Hard Times
There are hard times in all our lives. Some of us would look around and deny our neighbors have the kind of troubles we have and that’s probably true, but if we had a chance to compare, we’d probably prefer not to trade ours for theirs.
I was born into Hard Times shared by a nation. The Great Depression caused much suffering, even suicides by some millionaires who had lost what they held most dear. Others were sustained by love for their families, sacrifice and struggle and faith in something—the future, their strength, each other, or God.
Unemployment was widespread, and even those who found work struggled to feed and house their families. My Grandmother Nora sold household cleaning products door-to-door and later worked in a commercial laundry ten hours a day, six days a week, for six dollars a week and raised three teenagers on spaghetti, beans and fried potatoes. The boys would hunt squirrels and possums to sell to neighbors not too proud to eat them and had newspaper routes, to augment family income.
Parents quietly sacrificed to give the best and most of what they had to their children, shielding them from the fears and insecurity of their situation. A few years later I became aware of how deeply this sacrifice went and realized what it meant.
I remember when I was about three, there was often a bowl of oranges or apples on our table, and to please her finicky daughter, my mother would peel an apple for me and eat the peeling herself. At first I was surprised but guessed that grownups had strange preferences and came to expect it as normal. A few years later, she peeled my apple and threw away the skin. Surprised, I asked her “Don’t you want the skin?” She wrinkled her nose and said no.
Throughout my life I have seen parents doing without to provide the best for their children without letting them know all the sacrifices they made. This parental instinct to care for one’s own was implanted in our hearts by a Holy, loving God, who even sacrificed His only Son to provide life for each of us. If He did this for us, can you imagine the home He is now preparing for us, His adopted family?
