Personal Essays

Rich

One day, close to tax-filing deadline, dad was sitting on the edge of his bed. He was sorting W-2 forms. There must have been twenty of them. Maybe more. Twenty jobs.
Five children to feed and clothe.
Dad was the ninth of ten kids. He was born in the middle of the depression.

I never knew we were poor.

17 thoughts on “Rich”

  3. Isn’t it odd how you don’t remember things til later? When I was a kid, with this 4th dad, I remember making dinner. A single box of mac and cheese. For all four of us. Maybe a slice of bread. The places we were and where we are now…hard to comprehend. Thank you for the reminder.

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    1. He never complained. He paid off the mortgage in less than twenty years. He and mom retired in their late 5os and cruised America on his Honda OMG bike! He could squeeze Abe until he cried.

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  4. My dad in my primary 6. My mum was left to cater for 4 children all by herself. It was very rough. At some point, we had to sell homemade sweet puff-puff rolls to survive. Talk about humble beginnings… thanks for sharing.💝

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    1. You’re welcome! I can’t think of anything we missed out on: we were happy, made it through our teenage crises, had a solid foundation based on the golden rule, had friends of all stripes, and were loved.

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