L. Y. B.

            I’ve been reminiscing about the good things my parents did during my growing up years; as a parents, as mates, as citizens, as God’s children.  Dad encouraged us to be punctual.  Mom always made sure as babies that our shoes had been cleaned and polished after each wearing.  They gave RC Colas to the garbage men and gave us one once a week on grocery day.

            My parents ended up with family “traditions” that weren’t even intentional but have found their ways into our hearts of “the good ole days!”  I have mentioned before that once my brothers and I hung up our metal “Little House on The Prairie” and “Star Wars” lunch boxes, Mom creatively began to customize our brown paper bags.

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            Mom would lay down four brown lunch bags on the counter every school day.  I distinctly remember the sandwiches. They would rotate from: peanut butter and banana to bologna to the famous cheese and pickle sandwich (obviously necessity is THE mother of invention.)  We always had chips in a baggie, some sort of sweet (how I hoped for Oreos) and a piece of fruit (which usually was returned.)

            It wasn’t what was on the inside of those brown paper bags as much as it was what was on the outside.  Mom would write our names (in her beautiful “before the day” font) and then write a message or a series of letters.  These letters could be as short as “L. Y. B.” to “L. Y. B. T. A. T. L. G. I. T. W. W. W. P. C.”

            We would spend our lunchtime trying to figure out the message.  Most of the time I could handle the shorter messages but struggled with those longer than 3 letters.  Our family had many code words and sentences.  They are words and sentences that only a “Bryant” would know.

            Moms it’s important to encourage our children to form camaraderie within our families.  This will bring a sense of security that can’t be built through a fortified house or bank account.  Don’t downplay the value our children place on emotional security.

            Consider the traditions you are building in your children that brings security. (In case you wondered…LYB stands for Love You Better…which means Mom loves me more than I love her…so not true!  Here's a little something for you to ponder over your lunch:  L. J. M. B. T. A. T. O. M. I. T. W. W. W. P. C!”)

Psalm 102: 18  “Let this be recorded for a generation to come,  so that a people yet to be created may praise The Lord.”