Any Thing but Common

This is the true story of a boy, Jimmy Cecil Ward, born on August 22, 1951. I came from a poor family and lived on the wrong side of the tracks. I came from nothing in the small quiet town of Hillsboro, Texas. No one from Hillsboro thought I would amount to anything. I had a mother and daddy, but neither one had any schooling. They were good people and good parents and did the best they could with what they had. They were good at just getting buy and surviving, but I knew I had more than that. I had good sound common sense and knew how to reason logically. I knew I was smarter than the average person. I refuse to give in, I refuse to let others take advantage of me and I refuse to be seen as weak, to anyone. Sure, I had pain, but I refused to let anyone see me in pain or think they had inflicted pain on me. I refuse to let anyone bully me or anyone else, if I saw anyone picking on someone for no reason, I would make it my business. I grew up in Hillsboro to have friends, power, and freedom in my hometown, but just when I was in my glory days a new prosecutor came to town. He and the Judge convicted me for something I did not do and without legal counsel. I went from what was the best time in my life to what was the worst time in my life in a matter of days! But I never gave up on myself. I knew I had something more in me. In the most difficult time in my life, something new rose up in me, I found a new strength. The more they tried to bring me down, the more determined I became! I would never give into defeat because even if no one else believed in me, I believed in myself!