Random Acts of Living


Saturday, November 24, 2007

We Were Poor

I've been participating in a conversation about consumerism over at Prairie Dreams, which made me think about something my father told me.
Before I was old enough to remember my parents lived in an apartment that used to be part of an elevator, a place for grain storage for those unfamiliar. What dad said was, "We were poor, we just didn't know it. We were too busy having fun."
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The whole thing behind this story is that it wasn't what they did or did not have that made their lives happy. It was who they were with and how they spent their time together. Mom and Dad have always been hard workers, never expecting to get anything for nothing, but always willing to give the shirt off their backs to someone else who was in need. My parents have always been my heroes, my role models. I'm a very fortunate child.
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I Love You, Mom & Dad!

7 comments:

Anita said...

That's exactly it... Too many people equate happiness with contentment... Happiness comes from outside sources, contentment comes from inside us...
great post...:)

Moonshadow said...

Sorry about dragging the conversation over here, but I couldn't post the pic on you blog. : ) LOL

Peter said...

Hi! My parents and in-laws went through the depression of 1930. They too had very little and have spoken about it like it was yesterday. They do recall the hardships but the conversations mostly revolve around how they went about making the most of it and having fun without costing anything. Times have changed but I think we could learn a thing or two from our parents.

Regards
Peter McCartney

Moonshadow said...

Many, many stories about the depression and we had the Dust Bowl over here too. My grandpa ran bootleg liquor to feed his family. I think the problem with today's youth is they're two to three generations removed from any real suffering (for the most part). Most children, even the poor (I'm not talking 3rd world poor), are deprived of very little, or have to work for what they get. I'm not sanctioning child labor, but I think my generation have made it way too easy on our offspring and neglect to teach them vital lessons in being compassionate people. I'm painting with a broad brush here, because there ARE kids out there that DO "Get It", as Anita is prone to say. Time to get back to sleep, gotta fight this bug.

Kathy said...

My parents refer to themselves as "Depression Babies." They never asked for anything, never expected anything. That's why anything they were given, or achieved without assistance, meant so much to them. And they passed that on to their children. It's why I'm so grateful for the kindnesses that others show to me. What a gift they've given me!

Moonshadow said...

I agree 100% Kathy! We are the fortunate benefactors of their blood and sweat.

Anita said...

Some of my best posts are inspired by other people's posts... lol :)