Yes, they lived in the projects

Now, that I talked about what I learned in a wealthy place, I want to address what I learned from two women who lived in the projects.  One woman was my great aunt and the other was her neighbor.  The lived in row houses in Chicago.  They were in the hood, but not of the hood.  They kept flowers growing in their front yard.  You could eat off the floor.  My aunt mopped everyday and kept Kool-Aid in the refrigerator.  She often had treats that I thought was interesting.  She would treat herself to a bowl of oyster soup.  The neighbor rose so early, you could smell the bacon in your dreams.  You can set your calendar by the times that she did her laundry and both women watched their language.  I so enjoyed my summers and evenings with my cousins who lived there.  My uncle could fix anything that was broken and he was a good uncle.  There never was any funny stuff with him.  They ate at the table like normal people and their apartment glowed at night with warmth and good feelings.  They were refined people in an unrefined place, yet that did not change them.  There were many a person who told their children not to take rides or candy from drug dealers even though they were the kings of the block.  You would get beat until you saw the light for just even talking to the neighborhood hoodlums.  My older cousin went to church faithfully every Sunday and to this day, he is a gentle giant.  My cousins are highly successful from that place called the projects and that is because they had to live by different rules.  Yes, even I learned what I could do with my life, from the projects.