Sunday Scribblings - For Richer or Poorer - 1/04/09

For richer or poorer………
It seems that most of my writings are about my childhood. I am not sure why that is, but when I see the prompts that is generally what comes to my mind.
You know, I didn’t even realize I was raised poor until I was about 25 years old. I know you are wondering why I didn’t know? I think is because I had everything I needed and most of what I wanted growing up. My parents worked, but Daddy was almost always on lay off for three to four months each year and my mother just made minimum wage. My parents learned to make sure every penny was used carefully. My mother’s sister and her husband lived just two doors down the street from my house and their situation was much the same, except they had two children.
The “two family effort” started before I can remember and continues to this day. (Our fathers are gone, but we still have our mothers.) It was like I had 2 mothers and 2 fathers. I am an only child, except for my two cousins. We were like a family of seven. We had a garden, went to my Grandma’s house, built picnic tables, sold produce on the side of the road, owned a power mower, went to church, took vacations, and many other things…….all TOGETHER! What we had was the “two family effort” and this made so much more possible.
Each family had their own house and car and spent time with just their family, but when there was something we REALLY needed, the power of the “two family effort” came to the surface and together everything came out okay.
Just to let you know having four parents made getting into trouble much harder, but we still managed. I will save those stories for another time.
My childhood was rich with love and comfort.