Poor but Proud

Just about everyone in our community was poor when I was growing up.

If it hadn’t been for Mother and dad living on a farm and growing a good portion of what we ate, we probably would have starved.

The farm was a life saver it provided most of what we needed.

Our domestic animals and what wild game that we came up with, during the year, supplied us with meat.

Dad always tried to raise some chickens on the farm to provide us with eggs.

 Occasionally he would take a pullet or two from the flock, for Mother to fix a hardy mess of chicken and dumplings.

We learned how do with what we had, that’s the way we had to live; it wasn’t easy or pretty many times.

I often think how close we came to not making it during the 1940’s.

We lagged behind the rest of the country by light years it seemed, in most things.

We were poor, but we still had our pride, we didn’t believe in asking for help unless it was a total emergency.

We shared what little we had with neighbors and kin folks.

As I look back on those days, I’m totally convinced, God blessed our family in ways that were nothing short of miraculous.

Dad and Mother raised 10 of us children on so very little, compared to today’s standards.

What he made for a year, would probably be less than what most folks make for a day in wages today.

 A GLIMPSE OF YESTERDAY---Coleman Schell