That’s how I grew up.
We had three generations living under the same roof.
Granddaddy and granny had four kids. Two girls were married and moved away. The youngest, a daughter was still in high school and lived at home.
Daddy and momma had me and my brother.
We lived in the same house with everyone else.
The work was done by whoever was able.
Mama, granny and later my great aunt would do the cooking, cleaning, laundry and the lighter garden work.
When we were baling hay, threshing grain or picking corn they would be cooking for up to ten people. On a wood cook stove.
I remember getting my first ticket at 13 yo. Driving without a license. Judge dismissed it because I was in the farm truck taking a load of wheat to the mill. I was Essential Farm Labor the judge said.
Debt was an evil word.
I lived and worked amongst folks who believed that being in debt was a mortal sin.
We believed if it wasn’t broke then there was no need to fix it. If whatever you had was in good repair and still fulfilled the intended function, why buy a newer one?
We did a lot of what people call stoop labor and our days were long and hard.
Even with all that work our health was good and all my folks lived well into their nineties.
We had little money but we ate good, we were happy and never locked a door or feared a neighbor.
Young people today have no idea what they have missed out on.
Just curious. How old are you?
My kids grew up with their grandparents first in the apartment upstairs and then after my father in law passed, we all moved into a house together. They have never known a day in their lives without three generations.
They learned a ton about life in the past through her stories. You should have seen the discussion at the dinner table when they were learning about the depression and WWII. Lets say there was a little disagreement between Noni and the Teacher when it came to the horrors of dropping the bomb.
Its stuff like that, that I think kids have missed out on. My kids take better care of their grandmother than most kids take care of their parent. Watching them deal with her aging gives me comfort that they will take care of me.
Where I was when I was young, so was being on welfare.