Childhood

My Childhood as a whole was pretty much like most of the kids during that time...I was a "Depression Baby, as was Irvin, I was born October 23, 1931, Irvin, July 8, 1931...Even if we cannot remember the actual Depression(it was called and still known as the "Great Depression"), according to what we heard from our Parents , it was the worst of times, and something that one remembers , whether they were old enough or from hearing about it . ...there were no jobs, and if you were lucky enough to have a job, any kind of job, it was usually one that was heavy manual work, families had to move in with whoever of the family had a house, whether that house was large enough for everyone or not..that was a time that everyone shared whatever they were able to get..many of the Houston streets were put down during that period, by men out of work, for a very small amount of pay each day...I heard my Dad say 50 cents, and I know that sounds unreal, but you have to remember that was in the 30's and that bought a lot then, like a loaf of bread at 5cents a loaf, etc...By the way, those streets were brick, and even in the 1950 and beyond , there were still a few left..of course, there are none now...By the Grace of God, we came thru that dreadful time, and then in the 40's the Second World War happened...I still remember the day of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I was about 10 years old or so, and in a couple of years after the war started, my Brother, Charles joined the Navy at 17 years old..Being my Big Brother, he was my hero...This was everyones war, and we all did our part to help the troops, there were "blackouts", rationing of gasoline, many groceries, such as sugar, etc...we had ration coupons for all of those things..there was the USO that all the stars entertained the servicemen, there were not a lot of women in service during that time, of course there were nurses , and in time, the Waves, (Navy) and the women in the Army and Marines were starting to make their way into the armed services> One of my Uncles, (my Dad's Brother(youngest of 5 boys) was a Prisonsor of War, in Germany ..they were treated very , very badly, and I shudder at the things he told when he returned home.. as a result of inhuman treatment, he came home with TB, at that time a dreaded disease, that a lot of times , people died with...but with my Dear Grandmother's care, he got over it, and lived to be in his 70's...My Grandmother is another chapter that I will devote to her...WE finally defeated Germany, Japan, and our Servicemen were able to come home, by the way, at that time , either you joined by your choice, or you were drafted, even at the age of 40(at the time, 40 was considered older than it is now), unless you were disabled in some way, you were drafted ...It was a Wonderful time, when the war was finally over...My Brother was home, my 2 uncles were home, and we had a neighbor that was home , all of these men from different parts of the military...