Lessons from the past.

[carol b]

I do remember my grandpa telling me stories about the great
depression. The era caused him to distrust banks and to really
take care of his finances. There was no way he was going
to be left financially strapped twice in his lifetime.

What we need is an emotional understanding of how it felt to live with uncertainty and still get on with life, and still trust that hard work had a point and still believe that the future will be a time worth living in. I think the experience of a generation that faced a greater degree of uncertainty can teach us something about how to face our own economic uncertainty.

By Jim Jubak

Lessons from the past.

We missed a real learning oppurtunity when our grandparents
told use stories of the depression. We could have been better
off now if we hadn't listened to these stories romantically. They
were very sad and very true.

[dollardaze]

I am the same age as the author of this article. I have heard many stories from my grandmother, and my mother about what it was like to live during the depression, and it's really scary to think of the things they went through.

My mom's family was the worst off, because they didn't have enough land to grow a lot of food. I remember her telling me that she had two dresses to wear and one pair of shoes (usually with cardboard stuffed in the soles because of the holes in them).

My mom was always a hard worker though, and when she was old enough, she began to clean house for her teacher that brought in some money to help her parents buy more food and pay for some of the other expenses.

My dad's parents had a farm, so they at least could eat properly and made enough money from their vegetable gardens and animals that they continued to live a little better than my mom's side of the family.

We are fearful of losing our homes due to the mortgage crisis, not being able to feed our families like we used to, and that we cannot travel like we used to due to the high price of gasoline. Instead of dwelling on these things, perhaps we should be grateful that we still can feed our families and do what we need to do on a daily basis. Our lives are really pretty darn good when compared to those of the great depression.