Melancholy days of old

I am a Marshall’s girl through and through.
I love a bargain, but I guess I am a product of my upbringing.

Both my parents lived through the Great Depression in the 20's and were very frugal.   My mother describes us as a poor family with 5 kids.  At the time, I didn’t think we were poor, we had a roof over our heads, several bedrooms and two bathrooms, 3 meals a day, a family car and presents under the silver Christmas tree.

So, I guess you could say we weren’t “dirt poor”, we just didn’t have a lot of money for the extras.  Hand me downs were expected, both the toy and clothes variety.  Not that there were a lot of toys roaming around our house, but it felt like forever waiting for some puzzle or game.

I thought my mother was just mean and wouldn’t buy us chips, cookies or ice cream.   Milk was for breakfast only.  Forget Kool-aid or lemonade, we drank a lot of water.  I was forever looking for lost change in the street to save up for some Lemon Heads, Boston Baked Beans or Red Hots which were probably about a nickel a box.   And, if we were really lucky, my mother’s bridge club ladies wouldn’t eat all the Brach’s Bridge Mix chocolates and we were free to indulge.   I think its where I developed my love for Brazil nuts. They were usually the only chocolate covered nuts that remained, as the  almonds, toffee and peanuts were preferred by those gentile bridge ladies of the south.

Just the simple pleasure of scarfing down some left over candy could bring great joy to a kid.  These days, if you don't have a smart phone with texting and internet access by the time your 8, your a loser to the nth degree.

Makes me a little melancholy for the simpler times when a Saturday trip to the library  was an adventure to find a great read;  trees were climbed and games invented with the kids on your block; and puzzles and board games were a completely acceptable thing to do on a rainy day.  

Where's the hammock? I'm ready to unplug.......