"On 'People First'"

Dinner was the most basic fare, a dish which hearkens back decades, known in my family as “Grandma’s Macaroni and Tomatoes.”  I had purchased the necessary ingredients to prepare it the last time I shopped, although the peppers and kidney beans are my embellishments, not hers.  Her meal consisted of crisping bacon, sautéing onions in the grease, and adding dry macaroni and home canned tomatoes.  Often prepared for a family home from school for lunch, it was a filler dish readily made with ingredients on hand.

As I began preparing, chopping the vegetables and frying the bacon slices, my thoughts were on this woman who was a part of my life for over 30 years.

For her, meal preparation was done on a wood cook stove, even after electric ranges were available to the general population.  She worked in the kitchen alone, often cooking for an “army,” as it were—hungry adult men, their families, lots of children.  When holidays came she made certain a favorite pie had been made for each and every person at her table.  Pies lined every available counter space, memories in the making.  There was no cleanup help, no dishwasher; she was the sole "cook and bottle washer," as they say.

As one who had the most minimal of resources and provisions with which to work, she never turned anyone away from a meal.  If you were in her home at mealtime, you were fed and fed well--not lavishly, but no one ever had reason to leave the table hungry.

“People First.”  This precept, this admonition and adage, is one introduced to me many years ago by a lifelong friend, one that has been repeated and reinforced over and over again.  I’ve considered  writing on it for quite some time, but found it an elusive subject to express in words—until “Grandma’s Macaroni and Tomatoes.” 

sacrifice:  selfless, good deeds for others; surrender or giving up anything for the sake of something or someone else

“People First” and sacrifice go hand in hand.  One cannot and does not put others first without that thread of selflessness running through one's being.  It is an unconscious characteristic, the natural state of a person, one where no ulterior motives are involved or manifest, no thought of debt, being owed, or recompense. 

It is simply placing another’s needs or desires ahead of self;  it is giving time when that is asked, giving an ear to hear, to listen; it is being available, giving of oneself.  "People First" is literally placing another ahead of myself.

Another aspect of this pearl is that people are more important than any one, single material thing.  I could have virtually every object  money can buy but, without people in my life, I would be a shell of a person.  People are more important than power, prestige, social status, financial gain.  They are eternal.  That cannot be applied even to an antique, certainly not an expensive piece of jewelry or clothing, the best automobile or home money can buy. 

Small, young, teens, middle-age, the elderly—There is no age differentiation in this directive of "People First."  So when a little munchkin accidentally breaks a priceless treasure, the child is important, not the object.  When a drink is spilled inside a vehicle, which has the soul—the car or the one who did the spilling?  When an important conversation is taking place, my time is not mine, but belongs to the one needing to vent, to voice, to be heard.

Neither is "People First" limited to, nor defined by, only those who are family and friends. There is a world filled with people, people who simply need someone to notice, to care.

How to live one’s life is an important consideration.  Life can be lived well or.....not so well.  I have observed, witnessed, and experienced firsthand “People First” in action and feel it is an important foundational building block in life.  I honestly do not know if it is attainable for all, but its value and worth cannot be underestimated.

Grandma and her “Macaroni and Tomatoes” go hand in hand with “People First.”  I am an advocate for personal change and growth at the hand of my Creator.  This one is priceless.