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I grew up on food stamps & cash assistance. Mom worked a few times looking back, but it was never more than for a few months. She did really good, being a single mom with two kids on state assistance. Always very frugal with the little she received. She always said she knew she could work, but it would mean putting me and my brother in daycare/having unknown babysitters, etc. I clearly remember "cheese day", when we would go down to the local community center and stand in line for the big bricks of cheese, canned meats, etc. I remember mom would make tamales out of the meats and sell them locally.

Well, as I got older and watched friends being able to do whatever they wanted. At the time, I wore corduroy pants and pumas while my friends were all wearing stone washed 501 jeans and Reebok high top sneakers. Very materialistic, but my intentions were different. As a fat kid, my thighs always rubbed together and I hated the "VPP! VPP! VPP!" sound they made when I walked. While friends would ask their parents for $$$ to go to McD's in high school, I was lucky to be able to buy a cheeseburger at school. Most times I went to school and stayed hungry all day, then I would eat when I got home.

Anyhow, all of this made me somewhat resentful of my mom for a time. I couldn't understand why she insisted on keeping us in poverty, just because she wanted to be home to raise her kids. Of course, now as an adult, I look back and understand her intentions, if not the best, she was doing the best she knew how. Growing up on state assistance also made something in me snap. I had NO interest in making my kids grow up the same way.