<p>My maternal grandparents had seven kids and all of them went to college . . . I should ask my mom how they swung that, because they were definitely not a wealthy family. My grandfather was a postal carrier and my grandma was a teacher . . . not exactly the most lucrative jobs in the world. Maybe things were just less expensive then. I know they didn’t spend a lot on frivolities . . . The kids got their teeth cleaned by dental students at the local university (cheaper than real dentists), they packed their clothes in paper bags when they went on day trips to the lake, and my grandfather got a good deal on a used hearse for family transportation–this being in the days before vans and minivans!</p>
<p>On the paternal side, I am positive my life is better than it was “back then.” My dad had . . . I forget, about nine siblings I think. Some died at various ages. Anyway . . . they lived on a farm, which meant constant work for everyone, including the kids. Work work work. And its not like my grandma got off easy just because she wasn’t in the fields with the men . . . She had to cook for all these hungry farmers and farmhands, wash the clothes on one of those old-fashioned washboards, and melt snow to get the water to do the washing. They also had no indoor plumbing, if I recall correctly. My dad was born during the Depression, so they also had barely any money. My dad never went to college, although I think some of his brothers did. I would guess that they paid their own ways without family help. When my grandfather died, my grandma sold the farm and moved to an apartment in town. My dad was a teenager at the time and got a job on the railroad, then ended up going on to have a job on the railroad.</p>