The True Joy of Positive Living Ch: 2

• Childhood memories, though simple, significantly shape personality.
• Life consists of strung-together memories and unforgettable experiences.
• Memories and experiences from childhood can largely define a person.

Highland, Ohio

• The author's brother, Bob, was born in Highland.
• The author accidentally severed a neighbor girl's finger while mowing the lawn and the girl was able to use her finger normally after proper bandaging and hospital attention.
• The author was sent home for a cracker during a church service due to his brother Bob's crying, and returned with a five-pound bag of crackers, amusing the congregation.

Methodist System

• The Methodist system involved annual appointments of pastors to churches by the bishop, typically for short terms.
• This system created uncertainty and insecurity for the minister's family.
• Pastors usually remained at a church for no more than five or six years.
• Families attended conferences in September, uncertain of their next location.
• The bishop announced appointments at the conference's closing session which led to either pleasure or disappointment for the families.

Cincinnati

• The family moved from Highland to Cincinnati.
• The author recalled hearing steamboat whistles on the river and train whistles traveling up Mill Creek at night causing him to dream of traveling to distant cities.
• Steamboat whistles evoked a sense of romance and adventure.
• Train whistles symbolized journeys to far-off destinations like Columbus, Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, or Boston.
• These childhood experiences might have influenced the author's nomadic tendencies, leading to extensive travel later in life.

Coney Island and Chester Park

• The family visited Coney Island on the Island Queen once a year and the zoo was free.
• They occasionally visited Chester Park where the author and his brother rode the roller coaster and shared a bag of popcorn.

Cincinnati Reds

• Living in Norwood, a suburb of Cincinnati, the author's family lived next to Frank Bancroft, an official of the Cincinnati Reds.
• They got to see famous baseball players at Mr. Bancroft's house.
• Frank Bancroft would occasionally give the author's father tickets to the ballpark.

Mother's Qualities

• The author's mother was a skilled storyteller with a human touch, capable of evoking emotions in her audience.
• She had a remarkable photographic memory, enabling her to recall texts almost perfectly.
• She integrated apt quotations and literary passages into her talks.
• Anna Peale was an effective communicator who spoke with sincerity and used understandable language.

Parents' Qualities

• The author admired his father's strong, positive speaking style and his mother's femininity and communication skills.
• Both parents were ad-lib speakers, relying on extensive reading and knowledge of current events.
• Anna Peale was a natural leader who educated herself through reading, listening, and creative thinking, compensating for her lack of formal education.
• She was deeply knowledgeable about classic English literature.

Mother's Activities

• The author's mother became involved in foreign missionary work and oversaw Methodist activities in South China, Sumatra, Singapore, and Taiwan.
• She traveled extensively and spoke to audiences both abroad and at home.
• She was the first woman elected to the city school board in Findlay, Ohio, serving multiple terms.
• The author believed she would have pursued a career in politics if she had lived in a later era.
• The author's mother voted Democratic for James M. Cox, while the author voted Republican for Warren G. Harding in their first election.

Father's Qualities

• The author's father loved and respected all people, seeing the good in everyone.
• He was deeply affected by the troubles and sorrows he encountered while visiting people as a pastor.

Visit to a House of Ill Fame

• The author's father received a call from the madam of a house of ill fame requesting a pastor for a dying young woman.
• The author's father took the author with him to the house of ill fame to minister to the young woman.
• The nineteen-year-old woman, originally from Kentucky, expressed remorse and a desire for forgiveness.
• The author's father reassured her of God's forgiveness and led her in accepting Jesus Christ as her Savior.
• The experience profoundly impacted the author, revealing the wonder and power of the ministry.

Professor George Reeves

• Mr.Reeves taught fifth grade at Williams Avenue school in Norwood, Ohio.
• Professor George Reeves would write "CAN'T" on the blackboard and then "knock the 't' off" to teach the class that they could do anything if they believed in themselves.
• This positive thinking principle influenced the author's later development.

Halley's Comet

• The author remembered watching Halley's Comet with his family.
• His father emphasized the importance of the quality of life over the length of life.
• The author's parents encouraged him and his brother to work hard, be honest, and serve the Lord.

Importance of Achievement

• The author's parents emphasized the importance of achievement and personal growth.
• They valued compassion and respect for all individuals.
• The author's parents tried to teach their children to value all people by taking him to visit "Greasy Dick" because they were calling him names.

Christmas Eve

• On Christmas Eve, the author's father insisted that he give a dollar to a ragged old man, calling it a gift in the name of Jesus Christ.
• The experience transformed the old man, revealing his inherent dignity.
• This taught the author to always remember that Jesus Christ can help people become who they are meant to be.

Christmas Memories

• The author fondly remembered his mother's homemade Christmas candy.
• He compared the elusiveness of childhood joys to an old man's longing for the taste of peaches from his childhood.
• The family gathered at Grandpa and Grandma Peale's house in Lynchburg, Ohio, to trim the tree with ornaments and tallow candles.
• The author's present on Christmas morning was a red bicycle with a light on the front that was a second hand bicycle, but to this day and forever that scene is etched in memories.
• The author's parents sacrificed to buy the bicycle, demonstrating their love and joy.

Positive Thinking

• The author stated that the positive American way of striving and succeeding through individual study and effort was universally believed in.
• The author wanted to escape the control of poverty for himself and others.
• The author believed in people's worth and potential, encouraging them to live worthwhile lives through right thinking, decency, creative work, and God's guidance.
• The author still tries to listen to the whistles of trains and steamboats from his hotel window in Cincinnati.