Not many would consider the 1930s Great Depression years as "Good Times" unless there were some extenuating circumstances. I was the beneficiary of having grown up in that period of economic hard times, but considered it to be some of my best times because of several factors, not the least of which was a two parent family. Mom and Dad were typical of the blue collar people from good solid middle class families who were devastated by job losses almost immediately after marriage and were faced with an unknown future. Through some amalgam of their joint intestinal fortitude in the face of extreme hardship, they were undaunted in making a go of it. They were the cook and waitress in a Florida diner, farmers planting and harvesting beans in Florida, working a brother-in-law's gas station for room and board in Connecticut, and finally, a start as janitor in the a telephone company. Both worked their way up to a weel-earned Florida retirement. Despite these obstacles to a "normal" life, I was completely shielded from the vicissitudes and had a joyful, fulfilling and uplifting childhood that injected me with a rosy positive outlook to growing up and what I might be able to accomplish.
