9 people in 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom with NO shower....but we were always Democrats....

[jodymarie aimee]

Last nite I could not get to sleep..so I tried to picture our house growing up..each room and what I could remember...

9 people in 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom with NO shower...had to wash my hair in the tiny bathroom sink...

We had 1 phone and it was on a party line with an old biddy down the block...Jack and I (the big kids) would get maybe 1-3 calls a month and had to be off in 1 minute....maybe why I still am not fond of phones..I don't own a cellphone.

Mom put the food on our plates, until we were 18...no 2nds, no desserts, no snacks...until BF the next day...

12 years of Catholic schools....always a uniform or a skirt or dress...we walked miles to HS...

Isn't it weird how we grew up...if I told this to a young person they would NOT believe it...they would think we grew up in Africa..

But we were always Democrats, we knew that from the time we realized there was such a thing..and we believed in the Golden Rule...quaint now, eh?

[Atticus]

1. We have much in common. nt

[blueinredohio]

3. That makes three of us

[llmart]

17. That makes four of us.

The story is almost identical except for the Catholic thingy. My parents weren't religious. Plus we only had one real bedroom for nine of us. We had makeshift bedrooms.

I make it a point to tell the young people I know about how I grew up. They need to know.

[Me.]

2. You'Ve Had Some Fascinating Reads Lately

[MuseRider]

4. There were only 5 of us but it was a lot like this.

3 squares, not a lot of food and if there was desert it was Jello or cake mix cake and it was rare really. Meat, potato, a different jello for salad and likely corn or spinach from a can. No seconds ever, we could not afford that. I don't know what my parents were, they were certainly a mixed bag and did not really care to follow much news but 2 of the 3 kids have turned out to be very left and the one who is sadly a 40+ year addict is a O'Reilly follower and loves some Hannity.

The 2 of us were always Democrats, always compassionate and very liberal. It is hard to know why this happens in a mixed up, badly cruel and sadistic family but 2 of us survived with our compassion intact. Now it is just me, my liberal pal brother has been gone for almost 16 years. Holding his place .

[kag]

7. So sorry you lost your brother, MR.

We were pretty financially stable when I was a kid, but when I was 14 my mom was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer. She died 18 months later. I guess we all have our burdens, one way or another. I have three brothers, lefty liberals one and all, and we leaned on each other a lot growing up. (Dad was never present, and he remained a right-wing racist until he passed away three years ago.) My brothers and I are still all very close.

MuseRider, I've been wanting to ask you this for years...what is your sig line? I think it's beautiful, but I've always wondered if it is some kind of writing or symbolism.

[MuseRider]

14. It is a clarinet.

I play clarinet in a symphony. I have loved it too and will not change it, it is a part of me. In fact, even though I am older now I have considered a tatoo of this. I really like it too.

[kag]

19. Thank you!

I guess you can tell I'm not a musical person, but I do so admire people who are! And it would make a very cool tattoo!

[mcar]

5. 6 people, 4 bedrooms, 1 bath

Grew up in the 60s, 70s. One phone with a long cord. We were solidly middle class: Dad worked for the fed gov after getting a degree on the GI Bill after WWII. Mom stayed home.

We ate well, had the clothes, shoes, etc that we needed. Took one week long vacation a year. I lived at the local library and still read voraciously. We had one TV, one of those big console things. We watched together.

My parents were Kennedy Democrats. My father would be horrified at what is happening now.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Seven in a two bedroom house.

Kerosene Lamps until 52',indoor plumbing the same year. One make shift bathroom,and that came after we had a electric pump on our well. Same when it came to dinner time,but,we made it. I and the old man were the Dems,rest of the mob are . How soon they forget or care.

[marybourg]

8. I have to sympathize with the

"old biddy" who had to share her phone line with a family of 9.

[jodymarie aimee]

10. oh no..

she bullied us..she would take hers off the hook and leave it on her table..then nobody could talk. Our phone was probably used 40x a month when we were younger, by the parents and the kids. And the 1 minute rule for the kids. We just didn't yak on the phone. Phone was for doc appts and stuff like that..and we had built in babysitters...

[Atticus]

13. Our party line--- once we got a phone when I was six---had three other parties on it.

Each of the four had a different "ring". Our ring was one short followed by three long rings. In theory, you only answered "your" ring, bu-u-t--- the "old biddie" on our line was one of the neighborhood gossips and we could hear the soft "click" when she carefully "picked up " to listen. My grandma was also on our line and she and my mother grew tired of having an audience when tney spoke on the phone. So, they "set her up."

By prearrangement, my mom called my grandma at a time they knew "Bev" would be available and, sure enough, they heard her pick up after a few seconds. My mom proceeded to detail how my dad had come home drunk the night before and had beaten her up. She feigned sobs while saying that she had a black eye, some loose teeth and possibly a broken nose. "So," she concluded "I'm seeing an attorney this afternoon to file for divorce!" At this point, they thought they heard "Bev" gasp. After a few more seconds, my mother said "Did you get all that, Bev? Want us to repeat anything?"

They could still hear her sputtering until the phone slammed down.

[Cracklin Charlie]

9. Smaller family, same hour here.

I remember once going to a local guy’s house with my mom to trade tomatoes for green beans or something.

We were getting in the car to go, and I asked my mom “who is John blank”? (guy whose house we were going to)

My mom puts her hand over her mouth, and whispered “he’s a Republican”. Like a curse word.

There were very few Republicans in my town.

[Hamlette]

11. Yay! Another non cell phone owner

It is getting difficult as you can't use some new "services/apps" with a regular phone. I only want/need one a couple of times a year and the rest of the time I am delighted that I don't have one but love that everyone else does (I can get them).

I had a modest upbringing too, and remember party lines and our first TV. In fact, I was out of law school before we had a color TV.

My mom was a democrat and my Dad a republican until Reagan. He switched because he thought Reagan was crazy to talk about "limited nuclear war". He ended up more liberal than any of us which might be why I'm willing to listen to republicans who hate Trump now. Maybe they will change, at least some of them.

We also loved Europe and hated Russia. Go figure. In ways I'm glad they are not around to see Trump.

[LogicFirst]

12. Me, too

It certainly beats growing up like Judge Brett Kavanaugh: high school parties every weekend; get drunk until you black out or pass out, etc. For some reason, those of us who grew up with very little learned to respect all people. I'll take that lesson any day.

[jodymarie aimee]

16. I have rich siblings and moderate rich ones

I am the poor one...but I find the poorer folks are the more generous they are. My brother made me promise a few years back not to buy them so many gifts...then he said NO more gifts...he felt guilty I guess....that hurt at first, as I enjoyed picking special things out for them, but then thought, "OK more food for me !!"

[llmart]

18. All seven of us children have one thing in common.

Not a single one of us is materialistic. Not one. We could give diddly squat how much stuff we own. I have always been the one with the most money but I'm not wealthy by any means. I am also the one who owns the least stuff except for maybe my oldest sister. I'm just not into shopping or acquisition.

My parents did a lot of things wrong in parenting but they got some very fundamental things right also. Neither one of them lived long enough to see how we turned out. I like to think they'd be proud of how their values lived on in all of us.

[saidsimplesimon]

15. memories

I never knew how poor my grandmother was, at the time everyone had an outdoor toilet.

There are many of Hispanic origin in Phoenix who exceed the legal limits for occupancy of a one or two bedroom rented apartment. Most landlords appreciate their prompt payment and "clean" living.