The Rag Coat
1/19/15
By: Amory Silva Minna, the students at Minna’s school and I understood the lesson Papa taught when he said “Minna you got the right way of thinking. People only need people, and nothing else. Don’t you forget it.” We learned that people help each other and without people working together the world would be filled with less amazing works. The lesson was taught to Minna because during the winter months Minna’s family would ride in the back of a hay wagon to church under a quilt that her mother made. Minna was in burlap feed sack with her father’s warm arms around her. Minna would say that the quilt was warmer than if she ever had a coat and Papa would reply to that by saying “People only need people and nothing else” and the lesson really stuck with her. The year when Papa died she was sitting on a rotting log near the school and even heard Papa say that then in her memories. The lesson was taught to the students because when they learned that a bit of something each of them owned was in the coat they had a newfound respect for her. This taught them what Papa said, because they can see that it took all of them to create Minna’s coat so she could go to school. Without their help Minna would have to quit school for the winter months so she would not freeze.
I understood what the lesson was when the other children’s mothers helped make Minna’s coat. It helped me understand because it shows the true meaning of what Papa said. Minna needed the help of