my parents
My parents were a generation marked by the Great Depression and as a result I was taught not to waste anything. My dad, Ben Dale Cox, was born at home in Star, Texas and my mom, Ina Florence Rickel, was also born at home but on the family farm, but not in the house currently on the property. I've been told that the Coxes were very poor, my grandfather Cox had heart problems and spent most days in bed. My grandmother Cox had a garden behind their house and raised most of what they ate supplemented by the chickens roaming around the back yard. My dad told me once that it was a real treat when a neighbor would stop by delivering a bit of beef or pork just slaughtered. Neighbors looked out for each other in those days. My mom on the other hand does not remember having hard times because they had an acre garden, raised cows, pigs, chicken, turkeys, goats and sheep. They would set up road-side stands selling surplus vegetables to neighbors passing through ...