Mary grew up during the Great Depression. Living with her family in rural West Virginia, she learned to do nearly everything that was necessary for survival. There was no money to buy things. Her parents believed in a simple life and also in education. The only trip the family made to the small town 10 miles away was to acquire bare necessities and visit the library.
It was a quote on the wall in their dining room that became the guide for Mary’s life: “Wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants.” – Epictitus
As the Great Depression ended and the U.S. entered World War II, Mary decided to become a nurse. She became an R.N. after training in a big city hospital. Mary wasn’t taken in by the trappings of urban life and continued a very modest lifestyle back home in West Virginia.
She married a man who shared her values. Together they would raise three children who obtained college degrees and had purposeful lives. Neither Mary nor her husband were able to afford college. Mary’s first son was born when her husband was serving in the Pacific during World War II. She needed to work as a nurse to support herself and her young son.
When Mary began her nursing career, it was evident that she would become an exceptional caregiver. She had a remarkable ability to support those entrusted to her care. When her hospital wanted to recognize Mary for her exceptional talent, she asked that she not be singled out among her peers.
Mary had old-fashioned values about how people should be treated, but she was always the first to embrace advances in treatment practices. In fact, she often was more knowledgeable about new treatment protocols than the doctors she worked with. She helped them look good as she educated them on what she had learned.
Mary was strong in her faith and that helped her see the value in everyone she treated. She became an advocate for treating the whole person through very simple life support practices.
Mary was a role model and mentor for others in the hospital. She was often asked to provide life advice to others, including the physicians who practiced at the hospital.
Outside of work, Mary led a very modest life. She lived in a small home with her husband and children. She drove a car that was 10 years old. She wore clothes that had been in and out of fashion at least three times in her life. She maintained a garden and canned vegetables. She made her own bread. She never ate out. Her only expense was tithing to her church.
Over the years, Mary shared the quote that was hanging in her family’s dining room with others.
When Mary’s husband died, she continued living her humble life. She would die several years later. She didn’t have much of an inheritance to leave to her children. But she did leave them something that was priceless: an ability to embrace a humble lifestyle.
Embracing a humble lifestyle involves:
- Suppressing one’s ego while supporting confidence in others.
- Being a role model and mentor without being considered all knowing.
- Sustaining one’s values while being open to others’ beliefs.
- Maintaining best practices gained from experience while being receptive to better ways.
- Practicing one’s faith in how we live our lives, rather than just our words.
- Living modestly while investing for the future.
In the 250th year of our nation’s beginning, we should take time to reflect on how much living a humble life has become an embodiment of the American spirit. The humble lives of Americans have sustained our democracy. Their few wants are the foundation upon which American society rests.
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
– Henry David Thoreau