DIRT POOR AND HAPPY

As the temperatures outside are quickly dropping to single digits it makes me appreciate all the more that we have a warm home to come to each night.

When I was very young our family was not in the ranks of the middle class. My dad worked for the automotive department at Sears and I'm sure he made close to minimum wage. (was there even a minimum wage in the 50's?). When ever something had to be replaced such as a car or a major appliance Dad would work a part time job at a local gas station or a lumber store until the said item was paid for.

I remember one winter when our refridgerator needed to be replaced. Christmas was coming and I'm sure available funds were already allocated. Well Dad was if anything resourceful and somewhat of a make do kind of guy. He constructed a shelf on the back of the house just outside the kitchen window. That is were everything was stored that should have gone in the fridge. The kitchen was on the back of the house and faced North, so the sun never reached this location so food stayed safely cool. The shelf on the back of the house was our fridge for most of that winter. It you needed a glass of milk you just open the kitchen window and bring in the milk.

Even though we did without a lot things when we were young, I don't ever remember thinking that I was a poor kid. We were happy. My parents would do what ever was necessary to make things normal. I thought macaroni and cheese or peanut butter sandwhiches were just normal everyday food and that was what everyone ate.

My dad is gone now. He died six years ago, the first week of December. It was very cold that year also. I can still remember the clear cold December day that he was buried, with full military honors, in the Manti cemetery.

Wealth does not come from bank accounts or fancy cars. Real wealth is happiness, belief in God, family, and love. Love for all these things and all else that you are blessed with.