The Great Depression...

As things seem to be going from bad to worse in the economy the references to the Great Depression become more frequent. I am left to wonder if we really understand the magnitude of the events that took place in that era and how it shaped a generation and if the events of today are a fair comparison. The picture on the left is that of Florence Owens Thompson, it was taken by Dorothea Lange in 1936 and titled " Migrant Mother". It is perhaps one of the single most powerful images of the time. Study the picture...the lines on her forehead, the worry of her brow, the way her hand is placed to the side of her cheek and the eyes most telling of all. It captured the heartache, desperation, despair and hopelessness of a people. When I was kid my parents would talk of this time, for this was the time in which they themselves were children and tried to convey what it was like growing up in this period; it was this time that would shape a part of who they were and how they would live their lives. It is only now as an adult that I have come to realize what sacrifices they must have made while we were kids to ensure that we would have opportunities and choices in life.

Growing up in a rural area I can remember even as a child of how important it was to my parents to make sure we had the garden planted in early spring. It wasn't one of these little backyard gardens you see now, with 9 kids to feed it was an all out effort to make sure we had enough to make it through the winter without having to spend any more than necessary at the country store in town.We started by getting the potatoes in the ground by Good Friday which was usually in March.My parents would get 100 pounds of seed potato and the adults would pull a chair up to one of those big wash tubs and begin cutting them into sections with just the right amount of eyes per slice to make for a good plant later.While this was going on Dad would be plowing the fields and getting them ready and when everything was prepared all of us would have a job to do. While Dad was making the rows one of the older kids would side dress with fertilizer and the little ones would place the seeds into the rows spaced the right distance apart while some of the other kids would follow behind with hoe in hand to cover with dirt.

Next came the plant beds. Throughout the year we would save wood and any limbs that may have fallen due to storms and such and would collect them into one big brush pile and burn them to cleanse the area to plant seed so when mid May came around we would already have seedlings ready for transplant in the main garden. At that time there were few if any nurseries and few could afford them anyway. When May came around it was a nonstop work because now was The Time......time for planting.....tomatoes,corn, green beans,squash,peppers and along with that came the seasonal items that mother nature provided like good ole blackberries. Mom would send all us kids out to pick wild berries to bring back so she could put up for winter like most other items.

After weeks and months of back breaking work to ensure a bountiful harvest, come mid-July some of the vegetables were ready for picking and from then on until late September it was a hectic time trying to get as much as possible canned and put up for the winter months. Even though Mom and Dad worked in the factory that didn't stop them from coming home and doing a full days work there as well. As the youngest, once I entered school my Mom took a job at the factory to help meet the needs of a growing family. But without fail they would get home and start working and would continue until after dark. Their day usually started long before sunrise, Mom would get up at 4:00 am and head to the kitchen to make breakfast and Dad would soon follow and they would sit down to eat together.They would then prepare for work at the factory and do some chores before waking us kids for breakfast and getting us ready when school was in session or in the summer months waking some of the older kids a little after 6:00 am to let them know they were leaving for work.

Yet, all of this was just a small fraction in the effort, work and sacrifice my parents put forth, never thinking of themselves, instead striving to make a better life for us kids. As a young adult and amazed at how they managed to raise all us kids. I asked my Mom once how they did it.....

Her response was a simple one......" Oh, we just threw another bean in the pot"

.....It is only now as I have grown older that I have slowly begun to realize how much I took for granted while I was being raised. Although we may have never had the latest and greatest in the world in terms of material things. I have come to recognize that I have received more in this life than most and it was through the hardships that my parents endured and the sacrifice they made while I was growing up.