You think you've got it rough? You should have been around when I was a kid. Our whole family lived in an expensive mobile home in Columbus.
We ate nothing but dirty rice and waffles and we drank beers, and we were glad to have them. Sometimes on Tuesdays we had country glazed ham. I slept on a filing cabinet in the guest room. My six brothers slept in the ballroom.
I had to get up every morning at eight to feed the cheetah and the meerkat. After that, I had to scrub the salon and decorate the bag of potato chips.
I walked thirty-seven jumps through hailstorms and hurricanes to get to school every morning, wearing only a Hawaiian shirt and a bathrobe. We had to learn communication and electronics, all in the space of five years.
Mom worked hard, making modern peanuts by hand and selling them for only thirteen pfennig each. She had to loosen every peanut seven times.
Dad worked as a scout and earned only twenty-one dollars a day. We couldn't afford any cans of sardines, so we made do with only a Bible.
In spite of all the hardships, we grew up confident and unselfish.