Saturday, August 13, 2011

I Never Knew

My dad has been deceased for quite a while now. Dad was an orphan and dropped out of high school before his second year because he had no school clothes. He worked two jobs all of his life until he retired and even then continued to work one job. Still, there was never a lot of money in our small family.

I came close to knowing what it was like to not to have enough money for even basic necessities. As a single mom with a small child, I decided to go back to college so I could afford to take care of my daughter by the time my spousal support ran out. We lived on $500 a month from 1973-1980. Sometimes I'm amazed that she and I made it through.

When you are that poor every unexpected expense is a disaster. My parents couldn't afford to help me and besides, I was 28 years old when I began my quest. Still, when my old car fell apart, as it frequently did, and my typewriter actually wore out midway through grad school, Dad came to the rescue with just enough to take care of the problem.

It was after I graduated that I learned that Dad had started a savings account to keep my car running, out of which also came the new typewriter.

It wasn't a lot of money, but it sure was then when I desperately needed it.

THANKS DAD.

"We never really know the love of our parents for us until we become parents."

-- Author Unknown

2 comments:

Latha vijayakumar said...

Yes the word is true "We never really know the love of our parents for us until we become parents." Thanks for sharing

Jalapandro said...

That is one of the sweetest stories have ever heard. I find myself at 14 years old, in a somewhat similar position. Not a lot of money, have a single mother, but I never knew my dad save the beatings he gave me. To me this simplistic story was beautiful.