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WC OHIO | Dad was the oldest of 6 kids in the 1940's & 50's. Left home in the 8th grade because my grandparents couldn't feed them all.
Grandpa had a career-ending massive stroke in the spring of 1979. Never worked another day. Grandma didn't have a job and had to take care of grandpa. Dad's younger siblings may have been poorer than my grandparents.
Lost my mom, brother and about 1/2 our home in October 1980 in an accident where a car drove through the front of our house. Dad may have had $400 to his name. Dad and I shared the living room, kitchen & bathroom for 10 years until he got the house put back together when i was a freshman in High School.
He survived the 80's farm crisis. Folks would ask how he was doing. He just replied "Without". They'd say "How we gonna get by; how we gonna make it?" Dad was just say, "watch closely, i only got time to show you once", but never turned down a neighbor. Even the one's that stabbed him.
Neighbors would break equipment, vehicles, etc. and stop at our place on the way to the parts store, hardware, equipment dealers, etc. If Rusty couldn't fix it with what he had salvaged away in the shop, it didn't need fixed. I swear he could make bearings out of plywood. He was a real life MacGyver.
Growing up I thought we were rich. Took me 25 years to realize that we were dirt floor poor and dad was financing my grandparents too. He worked me like a government mule, but treated me like a king.
Cancer didn't kill my dad, the 80's did, just took 35 years to do it. | |
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Any one else’s dad as cheap as mine?
