'We Had Everything But Money'

For the past few months, Eric and I have been cleaning out our attic.  We have been looking through old cards, letters, books and papers.  I brought home a book when we were cleaning out my parents house titled 'We Had Everything But Money'.  My mother had ordered it from a company that published a magazine that specialized in stories from years ago.  This particular book is about the depression.  People had written short stories about their life during those days.  I never really heard my parents talk about the depression much, only that they didn't have any money before so they really weren't affected when it happened. 

I started reading the book as I walked on the treadmill at the gym.  I expected the book to have some sad stories but amazingly most of them focused on their families and how they helped each other.  Some of the writers used such words as 'pride, determination, courage, bravery and hard work'.  A few of the people told of the banks closing and losing their money.  Everything they had was gone.  But they never gave up. 

One story that struck my heart was about 2 young men who 'rode the rails' looking for work.  They stopped off in one town and decided to knock on doors of houses looking for a meal.  The 2 men split up since they knew most families wouldn't feed both of them.  Chester went to one house and knocked on the back door.  As he was about to leave, an elderly lady answered.  He offered to do any job she needed in exchange for a sandwich and a cool drink.  The lady invited him in and proceeded to show him the bathroom so he could wash before eating.  She cleaned his clothes, then fixed him a hot meal.  "How old are you"?, she asked as he ate his breakfast.  "Twenty", he said.  To which she responded, "my son will be twenty soon.  He left last spring looking for work.  He sent me a postcard from Salt Lake City 2 months ago and I haven't heard from him since".  After the young man finished eating, he asked her what work he could do to repay her.  She told him that he didn't need to do any work for her, that she wanted him to go home to his family.  She didn't want another mother to worry like her, wondering where her son was and if someone was kind enough to fix him a meal.

I have 2 sons.  I can remember them at the age of 20 years old.  They were in college and worked on the weekends, summers and breaks from school.  They were hard workers and were willing to do anything to make money.  I cannot imagine what the lady in the story felt like.  Every day wondering if her son was hungry or had a place to sleep. 

That story was the last one I read that day as I worked out.  It's kind of hard to read when your eyes are blurry.