Life is like a ride, we can go through hills and valleys that can either make us a better person or a person of character not fitting for the world. The two people that mean the most to me in my life are my parents: my mom and my dad. My father’s name is Roger Dale Burrows and he is currently 59 years old and is a very Godly man.
As a child he grew up with his three brothers: Ike Burrows, John Burrows, and a brother that died at a young age. My dad and his family never had a lot growing up, they lived in a tiny home living from paycheck to paycheck. He was a respectful child growing up with parents that were very kind but strict, this made my dad grow up to be a very kind man that learned to be thankful for what you have in life. Now mom, on the other hand, was a very rebellious child. Darlene Polly Bass Burrows, age 58, is a very outgoing person who will talk to any stranger in public and is a wonderful christian lady. She would always disobey my grandma, Polly Bass, and do things just to be very rebellious. My mom’s dad, Charles Bass, was an alcoholic growing up. The main reason my mom was so rebellious was because she was tired of her dad drinking all the time. Charles was never a bad father, he was very good to my mom and her siblings, Danny Bass and Deborah Hahn, even though he could not recall events from day to day. Both of my parents met through their friends who saw the connection between them two.
Still, to this day, my parents love each other very much and keep fighting the good fight of faith. This led my parents to eventually marry on July 17, 1976 which has been 42 years of marriage. My parents could recall both of their brothers going into the vietnam war. Charles Bass went into the war and fought for many years. My dads brother, Ike Burrows, did the same thing. Fear ran through them both wondering everyday would their family come home healthy and okay or would they get the call that their brother was KIA. They moved on with life, seeing everyday the struggle America had about fighting this war. My parents would think nothing about it, only thinking about the trials their family went through. Finally after many years of serving in the war, both of my uncles came home to their families: unharmed and unscathed. Many families began to worry that the aftermath of the war would leave a toll on the lives of the soldiers.
My two uncles were perfectly fine, they began to work jobs again and moved on with life by getting married and settling down for once. To this day in time both of my uncles are currently retired and traveling the US living out life peacefully and enjoyable. At an early stage of marriage, my parents had their very first child, my sister: Sheila Amy Cooper (married). Amy was a child who was favored by my mom and would do things just to agitate my parents. My parents went through a tough time with Amy at a young age because she had a kidney the size of a pea and the doctors didn’t know what would happen. My parents prayed for days to God, and finally after time went on her kidney grew back to a normal size. It amazed the doctors and they could not explain the works that happened right in front of them. To this day Amy is about to reach 40 years of age and is living a healthy life. After about 5 years of Amy growing up, my parents had my middle sister: Nikki Hargett (married). Nikki as a young child had no troubles and grew up to become a great adult who is currently at the age of 35. Nikki would get into a lot of trouble with Amy, and again, just to agitate my parents. After having Nikki, my parents decided they were going to plan not to have any more children so mom took the surgery to have her tubes tied, cut, and burnt.
My family started living a good life, my dad was working at a commercial flooring company making good money as a head leader of his group. Mom would work on and off at different places but mainly stayed home taking care of my sisters. Life moved on, until about 14 years later did a miracle happen. One afternoon, mom began to feel very sick. Feeling very worried, my dad took my mother to the hospital to make sure nothing was very wrong with her. The doctors ran multiple tests to have an answer on the situation in front of them. Feeling very worried, the doctors came in and told them an answer they were very shocked to hear: my mom was pregnant with a son. All of my family was either shocked, ecstatic, or scared. They were only scared because they thought the surgery my mom had to not have anymore children would kill him. After many tests and the child being born, he was a very healthy child: Matthew Colby Burrows. Still, to this day my parents call me a “miracle child.” This brought my family closer together, having to deal with me constantly as a young and spoiled child who got into all kinds of trouble and made a ton of messes. My parents began marriage as a normal family, going through jobs and taking care of the kids.
One day, my dad decided they were going to go to an old country church down the road. That afternoon, my parents got saved by giving their lives to the Lord. Making my family into a Godly environment, my dad felt led to become an ordained pastor in 1985. Totaling up his years of life, he has been a pastor for over thirty years. In 2018, my dad has been the senior pastor at our current church, Eastwood Forest Baptist Church, for about sixteen years. As a church, my parents have seen a rise in church going people, but also a downfall of people not wanting to go to church. Mom and Dad both have kept the fight of good faith and have stuck by the church through thick and thin, and plan to keep doing so for years to come. Even with everything going on in the world today with sickness, wars, and disputes my parents tried to do the right things for our family, for our church, and especially for everybody that watches them in their daily lives. Back in 2007, my oldest sister Amy told my parents and the whole family she was pregnant with a child. In 2008, my parents got to witness the birth of their very first grandchild: Hannah Grace Cooper.
Hannah is currently 10 years old and has grown to be a great child, going to states for her cheer competitions and making wonderful grades in school. After 2 years of having a niece and my parents spoiling their only grandchild at the time, my middle sister Nikki told the whole family she was pregnant with her very first child. The family was excited for the news and the addition to our family. During the year of 2010, my parents had their second grandchild become a baby boy: Josiah Coy Hargett. Josiah has grown to be a wonderful child, he has gotten into mischievous times because of being a boy and wanting to do things to agitate others but has still been a great nephew and an even greater grandchild to my parents. Life moved on, the grandkids started to grow up together and living a life of peace, until another addition of the family was added. Amy told my parents in 2011 that she was pregnant again with another child. Then in 2012, a third addition to the children were born: Samuel Eli Cooper. Eli is currently six years old and has grown up with the group as a healthy and mischievous boy as well.
The three children combined would make an exciteful time for all. Even through all of the crazy times, my parents are happy with the grandchildren they were blessed with. Currently my parents see the grandchildren at least 2 to 3 days out of the week and have a great time with each passing moment. As a family we have grown a strong bond with each other. Nikki and her husband are having complications which have hindered the families spirits and have hurt my mom and dad, but they continue to pray every day and just wait for an outcome of the situation. A time in history that really brought the whole family together and made my parents love for each other and God very strongly was when my mom got breast cancer.Back in 2003, my mom became very sick and went to the doctors and was told she had breast cancer. At this time period my parents were young christians in the faith, but the news was still very crushing to not just my mom and dad, but the whole family as well. We were not prepared to go through this task while keeping good spirits, but my mom insisted.
Mom and Dad both prayed to God for days to find peace in the situation brought before them. Mom never became sad or deplenished, but thrived through the struggle. Everybody at church and everyone that ever came across my mom at the time always asked the question, “why are you still happy even though you are having a very hard struggle and could die?” My mom would always tell them the same thing, “God has blessed me and I have given the whole problem to him.” This situation touched so many lives and helped keep the family and friends spirits in high hopes. Mom went through plenty of chemo treatments and lost her hair during the process, but would still smile through it all. Finally, the doctors did breast surgery to remove the cancer from her body for good. After an intense couple of hours and worry rushing through tons of peoples faces, my mom came out of the surgery with the doctor saying they have gotten rid of all the cancer in her body. Currently my mother has been 16 years cancer free and has never been healthier and happier in her life even after going through a traumatic event. All these situations brought my family together, even though they were personal it still helped us see a new aspect to life. Not just personal problems, but problems that the whole country went through also affected my parents as well.
The Cold War was a very scary time in history, it was the time of Russia versus America for the power of nuclear weapons and technology. The war began around the mid to late 1945 era. My parents can recall the ending of the Cold War where things were beginning to settle down and not as competitive anymore. The early years, however, brought upon worry for another major war (World War 2 ended just before the start of the Cold Wars). This was not a major time for the war, but it still brought upon many questions my parents had about the whole topic. This was when they recalled the election of Bill Clinton as the next president of the United States of America.Bill Clinton was elected in 1993, many scandals and allegations went through his presidency. My parents remember many days of hearing good things, but also bad things told about Bill Clinton. He was the 42nd president of the United States. Bill took office at the very end of the cold war, which was an addition to his presidency because the worry was over for the time being. The time period was a Baby-boomer generation where the upbringing of new ideas and beliefs became a very big factor in society.
The economy for all people began to boom again, bringing upon jobs and opportunity for big investments were a big part of society. My parents were not very fond of Bill after hearing many allegations he brought upon to society, but still respected his efforts in what he tried to do for the country as a whole. After serving two terms in the presidential office, the next president to step up to the job was George Bush. George W. Bush was the 43rd president of United States. My parents felt like George Bush was a very good president who was for the people, they saw George Bush as a needed president at the time for society to hit the “peak” of economic needs. This was when my parents began to recall that Bush needed to turn into a war-torn president for the benefit of the country after the news of 9/11. Just one normal day, my dad headed out that morning for work like usual thinking about nothing in particular. My mom was at home getting things done not thinking about nothing in the world.
Over the radio my dad heard the news that the twin towers had fallen and the US was being attacked by terrorist. My mom saw the event happen on the news with the whole country watching. This horrible news not only shocked my parents, but the whole United States as well. Everyone was in a panic thinking what else would be attacked, are we all going to die, who did this and is everyone okay. Our family did not have anybody living in New York at the time so that did not cross my parents minds, but the shock of the whole even transpiring brought them into a panic. Dad headed home to make sure everything was safe and secure while mom called up both of my sisters and their families to have security about them as well. For days on end my parents were concerned about our country, they were questioning why would somebody do this and how many casualties have we suffered as a country. Also, everyone broke out into a worry because at the time nobody knew where the president was, until he finally came on and gave the whole country a speech to remember.
Mom and Dad could recall the speech, it was a very motivational and awe-inspiring creation by the president because it helped band the country together. It showed the US that we are stronger than the catastrophe going place, that their were going to be long and sad days ahead but would be a time for the country to heal. My parents could remember the country ready for a fight, they were all ready to take action and do what is needed to fight the enemy and stop anymore tragic horrors from happening around the world. George Bush reassured America that the government was not shut down and would continue process as normal to secure the continent of any other attacks. “The time for fighting is over, it’s a time for action for the US” my dad would think everyday as time went on. At this point in time, the family was planning a cruise to go on for Amy and Scott’s honeymoon. When 9/11 took place, however, the whole family had second thoughts because of the worry of another attack would take place and they did not want to be stuck out at sea.
Even the weather became very bad and storms began to emerge when they thought of going on vacation, this was another big issue my parents had to worry about as well. After many hours of thought and discussion, my parents and the family decided to go on the trip. My parents recall the trip being a very peaceful one, nothing bad happened while they were on the cruise and had a great time. Many doubts and worry did run through peoples heads and they could remember hearing many people speculate and be worried about going on the cruise in fear of another massive explosion or death either in the US, or on the ship. After the catastrophe subsided and the US was on the hunt for ISIS and its leader to destroy them for good, my parents could recall the beginning of the Iraq war, which is what America did not need at the time. The Iraq wars went on between 2003 and ended around the year 2011. President Bush told America they were doing a campaign in Iraq. Bush’s plans were to “decapitate” the leadership in Iraq and help them become a free country. This was the start of the ground invasion that last for a very long time. Saddam Hussein was the leader during this time, a very evil man who wanted full control and pressured the citizens at all cost to get what he wanted. My parents remember the beginning of the war, it was a time that America became very upset as a whole because it was only two years after 9/11 and now we are having another complication to be dealt with all at once. It became very overwhelming for everyone. My parents can recall the US taking out the military of Iraq very easily with the help of freedom fighters in the country.
Everyone began to believe that after taking the military out, except for bands of supporters of Hussein, that the road would be an easier move. President Bush told the US that he was declaring the end of major combat operations in Iraq. This made not only my parents happy, but most of America as well. The war was not over, however, a big win for America and its allies was capturing the leader himself. Capturing Saddam Hussein made the war efforts a big moral booster for everyone. After healing the effects of 9/11 and now turning the tides in the Iraq war, while taking out major leaders in the country helped bring a peace throughout the US. My parents still felt the weariness of the country because not everything was dealt with.
There were still bands in the country that kept America going with the war until the year 2011, where finally the opposition was mainly crushed and the country to finally go to peace and freedom. Mom and Dad said these events were ones that could never be forgotten, but the greatest moment to date for the US was the death of Osama Bin Laden and the destruction of Al Qaeda.My parents could recall that greatest day for Americans, the day President Barack Obama came on and told the whole nation that the terrible Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, was assassinated and confirmed to be dead. The US erupted with screams of excitement, the man that was the leading cause of the terrorist attacks on that wretched day was finally dead. The pain and torment he put the whole country through was something that nobody could imagine unless you lived through it. My parents said a peace could be felt that swept across the United States of America. Earth finally could see the power of America and what we were capable of if you hurt us in any way. That time became a domino effect for everything else going on at the moment. The economy went on a downfall, but now it seen a spike in sales and revenue, Al Qaeda came crumbling down to nothing after losing their leader, and the strength of one nation was firm and powerful to all people. Finally, my parents told me about the presidential election of Donald J. Trump. The 45th president of the United States and known as the most technology advanced president we have ever had. Donald Trump is a president that does not have background of holding any type of office, but is a very advanced business man. Currently he has either made people very happy or very angry. Whether you like him or hate him, you have to respect the people’s decisions and what we decide as a democratic society.
My parents biggest statement is they just want change as a country. We have gone into a financial and stable society just straight into a downhill spiral. President Trump does not have much history on his record yet, but he will be by far one of the most talked about presidents ever recorded. My parents just hope as a country no matter what you feel about him, we can come together as a nation and tackle far worse problems going on around the world that can be dealt with. North Korea has become a big threat, and the man to stop the situation will be our president, my dad tells me, as a nation keeping the enemy suppressed prevents another war from waging within our society. This is what we need to move forward with our lives, instead of dividing the continents once again for a war that could kill millions.My parents said that throughout everything that has gone in the US, history has repeated itself. As a nation, we have fallen away from each other, becoming divided into matters that nobody would ever want to discuss. We have seen times of peace where everybody gets along and prosperity throughout the continent has increased everyone’s way of living. There have been sad times, going through events that nobody would ever think that could happen to our great nation.
Finally there have been moments of pride, bringing forth such disasters made us stronger, giving us the opportunity to see that no matter what, the country is full of opportunities for everyone, a sense of purpose for the hopeless. A country full of millions of different people and ethnicities practicing different religions can come together to make one population of people has always been an amazement to my parents. They hope that in the future, we continue to stay strong as a human being, as a person full of life and character, and a nation that stands for the right reasons and wants to see the stand for good. I am just proud to call Roger and Darlene Burrows, my parents, a God fearing couple who stand for the good of all people and wants Christianity to flourish once again in our great nation, to show that we as a nation can stand as one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
