the great depression

I can track my packrat nature to the Great Depression. My grandmother lived through it. She was also, later, a working single mother to two young girls in the early 50's. She was poor enough that my mother and aunt lived with a foster family for a year or so after my grandparents divorced. She, much later, died having enough wealth enough to put me into college and help my cousins buy their first home. She would never throw things away. She was always hoarding canned food. Always. So does my mom. I'm not so big on the canned foods, but I can't throw anything away for fear that I wil need it.

And now as I accumulate loans and pay hundreds of dollars per month in interest, and look out to an ever worsening economy, with bleaker job prospects for myself and my husband, I begin understand my grandmother a bit better. Realtive to what she lived through, I am spoiled spoiled spoiled. Grandma would always tell me how hard times were when she was younger, that I should learn to make preserves to save the good parts of wormy apples and how lucky I was to have all sorts of food to eat. I never imagined not having enough, nor could I understand as a 6 or 7 year old what a difficult time my mom was actually having making ends meet.

The picture is coming into focus gradually . . .