As I watch our country and the world grapple with economic uncertainty, I am reminded, as we are entering a time of great change, of how greatly the wisdom of our elders is needed.
At each of our Dancing Heart™ sessions we have been asking the questions:
How do you make do with less?
How did you survive the Depression?
Below are a few of the “jewels” we received from our elder friends at the Struthers Parkinson’s Center:
Ken: Most of us kids had a paper route. We would deliver The Guardian; my brother delivered the Saturday Evening Post. Once we got all our change, we would joyously dump all the money on to the dining room table!
Bill: We were farmers. I would wake up at 5 am and three of my siblings and I would milk eighteen cows. Let me tell you there was a lot of squeezing! Then we went to school. After school there were the chores to do and that is where I would make a little money. My mother took in chickens; she then took the eggs and traded them for sugar or flour. My mother was always busy at night; she would mend clothes, braid rugs and quilt. She worked till she went to bed.
Julie: We have to remember that it wasn’t just in the 30’s that people were struggling. In the 1990’s as a single mother with five children I struggled. I received immense assistant from the community without that I don’t know what would have happened.
That morning I witnessed the power of storytelling in action. Each person needed to remember and retell these events. And as the listener we needed to receive their wisdom, their challenge.
One theme became apparent – As our world changes—we all need each other—we can’t do it alone.
Buddy, can you spare a dime. . .I invite you to share your thoughts on how you make do with less. How have you survived during economic difficulties…
Carla
