Something to Remember

Something to Remember When the Great Depression hit, it affected my family seriously. We had been living a life of “luxury”. A large and spacious apartment in NYC and a home on Long Island, kept my brother and me beach happy in the summers and walking distance from school in the winters. We never shoveled snow until the Depression caused us to abandon the apartment and move “to the country” all year around. From my seven year-old perch, this is what transpired. One morning in October 1929, my Mother explained that she would not be home when I came from school for lunch. “Why not?” I asked, “I have to go to the bank to get my money,” Mother explained. I had no idea that her simple answer was about to change our lifestyle, habits and schools. My friends would not follow me to the country, nor would my teachers. Nevertheless, I was unmoved. At seven I went with the flow, my parents were in charge At seventeen it would have been a different matter. When Mother was home at three o ‘clock that day, I asked, “Did you get your money?” Her simple “no” gave me no clue of what was to follow. For some months we continued to live according to habit, I wondered that there was no change. Soon I began to hear a new phrase, “we need to tighten our belts”, I did not understand at first. Then plans for winterizing the house “in the country” became a reality. At the end of the school year we were told that we would not return to the city for the winter. I was to go to a different school, the little six-room schoolhouse about a half a mile from our “country” home. That year when I needed new shoes for the new school, Mother bought two pair, one black and one brown. She would not have to buy shoes for me, she hoped, for another year and she could take advantage of a sale. The Depression changed our way of life, but it never really hurt. Mother was a great manager. I can truly say that despite the fact that our income (as I later learned) was cut in half, my brother and I never knew hardship in the real sense of the word. We had three nutritious meals a day. Mother was also a good cook; she did tricks with leftovers. We had everything that we needed for school we were able to participate thoroughly in school activities. I never felt deprived. My belt never got tight. We did not have a car, but I knew how to ride the bus. We did not take exotic summer vacations there was always the beach. I went to the movies once a week and when I went with Dad, he treated me to a sweet afterwards. When Mom took me to the dentist in the city on a Saturday, we lunched at the automat. I did learn a lot without a college course in economics. I learned to understand and even practice Mother’s brand of economy and good sense. Every time the economy slid, I panicked from that time to this day. Yes, I was ready for our Great Recession when it came.