We were poor?

My father worked for JI Case for a long time but eventually bought a corner bar with attached restaurant in Kenosha. My family, in those years before I was born, lived in Racine and his idea was to have a buddy of his run the bar business while he worked at Case. This would effectively be bringing in two incomes from my Dad alone. My mom worked at Western Publishing in Racine at that time so, if this plan had worked, my family would be raking in some dough, so to speak. There was, however, one large kink in the plan, which my Dad soon found out.

The buddy he had entrusted to run his business was indeed running it right into the ground. Profits were down, mostly due to his drinking them up and then giving away the products! My Dad had to let him go and brought his nephew in to help for a time. But that too wasn't a perfect solution so the day came when the whole family packed up and moved to the apartment above the bar in Kenosha. So it was that I was the only person in my family to be born in Kenosha.

The apartment we lived in was pretty big! There were four big bedrooms. My parents had the largest at the back. My sister and I shared the next largest right off the kitchen. Another sister was in one off the main living room and there was another off the "good" living room. The "good" living room was the one that had the best furniture in it and we were not allowed in there except when there was company or it was a holiday. God forbid we spill something on the good furniture. There would be hell to pay! The only bedroom that I can remember having a closet was my mom and dad's. The rest of us had movable racks to hang our clothes on. When we moved and I had a closet in  my room I had a sort of phobia about it because I always felt like something was lurking in there!

There was one bathroom in this apartment. In it was a large bathtub and a toilet. No sink. Our medicine cabinet, mirror, tooth brushes and tooth paste were all kept at the kitchen sink. It was our only sink so that's where we did all of that and washed our hair! You learn to share and be patient when you share one bathroom with so many kids!

There was no central heating in this apartment. There was a heater in the kitchen and another one in the main living room. We would get up each morning, grab out clothes and get dressed by one of the heaters. It was normal for us. There was also no air conditioning. We sometimes would go sleep out in the back behind the bar if the summer heat was too much. But the truth is, I, for one, didn't know any better. I was a kid and completely oblivious to how other people lived. It wasn't until I was at a slumber party at a friend's house and there was a heat duct in her room that I realized other kids had heated bedrooms!

When I look back there are many things that other kids had that we did not but at the time it just didn't matter. The truth is it doesn't matter now either because my parents made sure we had everything we needed. Sure, I got my share of hand me downs but my mom would fix 'em up and make them seem new. They made sure we had fun as a family - taking short trips on their time off to the Racine Zoo, Paddock Lake or Zion to buy Oleo! Every year, my Dad would load up the car with enough baggage to sink the Titanic and then add however many kids were home at the time plus Mom and we'd head off on the road to spend a week or two with relatives in North Dakota or Iowa. We'd fight and complain and be car sick the entire way but none of us would ever have given up a minute of those trips.

My mom could stretch a grocery budget like a pro. We'd eat creamed peas on toast or tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches but we liked it because she always made it taste so good! On our road trips we never stopped for fast food. No! Our treats were hand packed - sandwiches, fruit, cookies and other goodies - lovingly wrapped in wax paper and kept in a shoe box in the front seat by Mom.

Every Easter we got new dresses, fancy shoes and hats. Every fall we got new school shoes, gym shoes and school supplies. Every summer, we were made to play outdoors and take responsibility for our actions. No, we didn't have a lot of money. My Dad's bar and restaurant was a popular place but not one that made him rich in monetary terms. He made hundreds of friends though. At his funeral, we were overwhelmed by the number of people who came to pay their respects. The funeral home had to open two more parlor rooms to accommodate them all. Most were past customers, some were folks my dad had quietly helped out without telling anyone - a loan here, a hand up there - but all came as friends.

So yes, were were poor, if you look at poverty in terms of money. We didn't have much. Still don't. But what we did have, and still do, is a family that cares deeply for each other, talks almost daily to each other, and cares just as deeply about other people. We know the value of what we have because we have had to do without.