My Dad grew up during the depression.
Plowed a mule sun to sun starting at a very young age.
Never had electricity in the home.
He used to say "the good old days are way overrated".
HA!….mine would say the same after all of the stories he would tell me. The area he grew up in was very rural (south GA), it was very tough growing up back then…..but he was very happy for the most part.
But you could tell that he also had a lot of fond memories.
They had a mule also, no running water and no electricity. They got all of their meat from their livestock (and milk) grew their own vegetables, made their butter, syrup, meal etc.
I believe the only thing they didn’t have were spices and maybe flour. They had what you called a “rolling truck” back then. It would come by once a week and they got what they didn’t have then. A candy bar was a privilege….,a real treat.
Can remember him telling me for baths, they had to use well water to dump in a tub outside….waited for the sun to heat it before he would get in.
He was too damn poor to go to college, but he worked his azz off and was pretty dang successful in the grocery business for only a HS grad..
He believed the only way to get ahead was to work hard….and he proved it. You can’t say that in today’s world……but he certainly did it. He learned a lot about who he was back then and applied it to the real world.
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I always say that everyone should be poor at least once in their lives…..this is some of what I mean. You can certainly understand both sides of the fence if you do.
I learned a lot from my Dad, his beliefs and the examples he set taught me a lot about life.
.God rest his soul.