I grew up in a wonderful family. Mom and Dad brought we four children up with dignity and love. Sometimes you realize life is good but you eventually realize it is very special. You have been blessed with the best parents you could have ever had. Dad had a good job and Mom worked part time to help the family budget.
We had a move that really shook me up the year I was going into Grade Twelve which of course is graduation year. Our parents did not want a fuss made of them and not only did not tell their friends until the last minute but they did not tell my sister and I, who were moving with them.
We lived near a military base and my parents made the young military apprentices very welcome. These fellows were getting their schooling while getting their military training.
At their graduation, I met Frank, my future husband. We got married young and lived on very little. I made bread and stretched meat although it did not seem we were short on anything. I made pies from apples and other fruits I picked. Cinnamon buns were easy to make.
We had one footstool and the rest of the furniture came with the duplex. We did not have a phone for the first year. It took us three years to afford a car. Our son, Frankie, was born a year after we got married. We were careful and he was well dressed and well fed all the time. We got an extra $8 family allowance a month when he was born which helped. Frank's pay was $125.
Frank was away a lot so we had to split the money up so I could pay everything on the home end and Frank needed money on his end. If the military overpaid accidentally, they took the money back in a lump sum.
We always ate well, had a tidy home and had a happy family. There is always something to enjoy even when the cupboards look bare and the furniture is old.
By Bev from Chilliwack, BC
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