I try to be upbeat and non-controversial on my blog although I do broadcast my opinion in comments I leave on other sites. The last I knew we still have the freedom of speech and the internet is certainly a public forum. So here goes.
If I could find it easily I would post the one photo of the house I was raised in from the age of 5 until 12. A very humble abode to say the least, never finished, 3 rooms and a loft. No running water. 3 of us girls to a bed, wood stove in an uninsulated house,the chimney of the pot belly stove rose through the floor up to the loft and out the roof. So much heat was lost that you could warm yourself by huddling around it. My siblings may have a different take on this and maybe based on their birth order things were better for the younger ones than for the older ones. But history is in the mind of the teller and right now that would be me.
I recall cardboard placed in my shoes to cover the holes and we did indeed walk a little over 2 miles to school and 2 miles back often without adequate winter clothes, rain gear or boots. It was not uncommon to have only bread and butter or cold biscuits in our lunch sacks. Once in a while Mom would make a simple frosting of powdered sugar and milk and spread it between saltine crackers as a lunch treat, oh yum, what a great treat it was. My older sister and I still make these once in a while. I do know hungry, believe me I do. I still recall the lovely clothes my aunt sent to me that her daughter had outgrown. Each item freshly washed, starched, pressed and folded. I treasured each item of clothing which even included a "can can" that was all the rage in the 50's. My aunt's kindness and the care she took of each piece of clothing gave me a lifetime of love and respect for her.
I was very ashamed of our little unfinished house and very afraid someone from school might see the hodgepodge ladder we scurried up to our loft. Our older brother had one side of the loft and we girls the other side. Little brother when he came along shared a room with our parents. Rarely, but when I did have school mates stay overnight we shared a room at my grandparent's home. Truthfully claiming there was no room for guests in my home but more so because I was very ashamed of our very humble home. So different from my friends' homes. Some people claim they were poor but happy and sat around singing "So The Circle Won't Be Broken" each night. Not so us. For whatever reason we were poor and I now marvel that Mom was able to put a meal on the table.
Why am I saying all this, why reveal all this history? Because when I saw the other kids' sack lunches I didn't begrudge them their baloney sandwiches, potato chips and cookies. I recall thinking someday I could also have nice lunches. Time spent in the homes of my classmates delighted me to see running water, scented soaps and a nice clean bed for everyone. Homes that appeared to have laughter, peace, hugs and attention. Homes like I wanted when I grew up. When I noted how the other girls dressed I could attempt to follow their styles and with my hand me down 'can can' slip and cousin's skirts I thought I did pretty well.Guess I learned that imitation was the most sincere form of flattery rather than to feel jealousy and think they were the 'haves' and I was one of the 'have nots'.
I will close with this and wish I could post pictures of my and each of my siblings' homes today in contrast to the humble shabby house we were raised in. Each of us have nice homes, each of us earned our educations, through the military, working our way through college or on the job,and have had excellent jobs and raised our families. Four of us rented when we started out, bought homes we could actually pay for even though they were not big lavish and new we all managed to avoid the trap of being heavily in debt(if at all). Our children are all hard working and earning their own way with our strong work ethic and it appears the grandchildren are following this pattern also. Oh my, how different it would be for the 5 of us and our families if we had sat back and envied those who had better lives than we had. Or just as bad begrudged the success of others rather than reaching and working for our own success. Or how different if we had held our hands out waiting for Uncle Sam to give us the money taken from others. Or if my parents had put us on the welfare train to ride through our childhoods to the point of perpetually looking at others and wanting them to have less so we could have more.
I know the Lord blessed each of us and kept us safe and reasonably healthy and that we all 5 married good spouses who were like minded and we married for life. Actually I imagine our great grandmother who saw our poverty and who had a strong faith in the Lord and a love for us prayed for our futures and maybe it was more the Lord than our hard work that resulted in our situations today. But I like to think the harder we worked the more the Lord blessed the 5 of us and our mates.
Fritz and I spent most of our married life being self employed. We scrimped and saved and paid the quarterly estimated tax, we paid our own health insurance and the full Social Security tax, we lived off of what was left over and saved for our retirement. My husband worked harder than any man I know and went without and made do to support his family. We are not "the evil wealthy" but we worked and saved and expected nothing to be given to us. We know many who have struggled and have far more than we do and we admire them and yes they are the "rich" but they earned every dime and it is none of my business to question their motives. Socialism has been tried and has failed every where it has been practiced. Class envy will not only destroy our country it destroys the individual.
So there you have it I think this is what shapes my world view and leads me to have little tolerance for those who want to heavily tax those of us who have more than they do. Success is something to strive for not something to be jealous of.
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