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Katharine Hepburn's Childhood, In Her Own Words.

Katharine Hepburn's Childhood, In Her Own Words.

Author: Katherin Hepburn
Date: 2023-12-14

"Oncewhen I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus.

Finally,there was only one other family between us and the ticket counter. This familymade a big impression on me.

Therewere eight children, all probably under the age of 12. The way they were dressed, you could tell theydidn't have a lot of money, but their clothes were neat and clean.

Thechildren were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents,holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about theclowns, animals, and all the acts they would be seeing that night.

Bytheir excitement you could sense they had never been to the circus before. Itwould be a highlight of their lives.

Thefather and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. The mother was holding herhusband's hand, looking up at him as if to say, "You're myknight in shining armour." He was smiling and enjoying seeing his family happy.

Theticket lady asked the man how many tickets he wanted? He proudly responded, "I'd like to buy eightchildren's tickets and two adult tickets, so I can take my family tothe circus." The ticket lady stated the price.

The man's wife let go of his hand, her head dropped; the man's lipbegan to quiver. Then he leaned a littlecloser and asked, "How much did you say?" The ticket lady againstated the price. The man didn't have enough money. How was he supposed to turnand tell his eight kids that he didn't have enough money to take them tothe circus?

Seeingwhat was going on, my dad reached into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill, and then dropped it on theground. (We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!) My father bent down,picked up the $20 bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, "Excuseme, sir, this fell out of your pocket."

Theman understood what was going on. He wasn't begging for a hand out but certainly appreciated the help in adesperate, heart breaking and embarrassing situation.

Helooked straight into my dad's eyes, took my dad's hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, hereplied; "Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to meand my family."

Myfather and I went back to our car and drove home. The $20 that my dad gaveaway is what we were going to buy our own tickets with.

Although we didn't get to see the circusthat night, we both felt a joy inside us that was far greater than seeing thecircus could ever provide.

Thatday I learnt the value to Give.

TheGiver is bigger than the Receiver. If you want to be large, larger than life, learn to give. Love hasnothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what youare expecting to give - which is everything.

Theimportance of giving, blessing others can never be over emphasised because there's always joy in giving. Learn to make someone happy by acts of giving."