Single, and very poor, my grandmother raised her five children by herself. My father can recall many times that they would not have enough food to eat, and so my grandmother, would go hungry just so that her children could have some food in thier tummys.
When my father was 10 years old, he convinced his mother to allow him to get a job. He worked at a gas station during the night , and went to school during the day. Every penny he earned he gave to his mother. He did not keep ONE cent for himself. Not because she asked him to, rather , because he wanted to.
My grandmother worked 18 to 20 hours a day, six days a week ( she refused to work on Sunday ) and earned about 45 dollars a week. This was in the 1960's. There was not alot of money to go around and things were very tight.
My grandmother was devote Christian and every Sunday my father and his siblings were carted off to Church. Dad remembers one Sunday in paticular. They had NO food, and no money except for one quarter. At that time, a quarter would buy a loaf of bread and a small swab of butter. Granny asked my father before they headed to church to remind her to stop at the store on the way home to buy the bread and butter. After church , they all hopped the in beat up car, and headed home. Dad , always loyal to his tummy, reminded my grandmother in earnest to stop at the store. She kept silent and kept driving. He reminded her again, this time with much more urgency. All she said was "I dont have it".
Dad says that he got very upset and asked what did she mean she did not have the quarter. She said that she had given it to the Lord in the offering plate. Dad told me that he was very upset and worried. He replied to my grandmother. "So, what are we going to eat, mom". She said "I dont know son".
When they got home, spirits were down. They lived in an old house in the town of KIRKLAND LAKE ONTARIO, and the house had an old stari case leading to the front door. As they climbed that old stair case, a wonderful sight hit thier eyes. Sitting beside the door, were boxes and bags of food. Enough food to feed them for a few months. To this day, they do not know who left the food there. All they can say is the it was a miracle. And it was, it really was.
As my father grew up, he and his mother were often at odds end. When Dad was 16, he became a News Reporter and worked full time while going to school. When he was 18, he began to save up for University and he had managed to save enough money to go to Unversity.
My grandmother had never been on a vacation before, and was planning on taking her family to see Niagra Falls. They were excited and my father said he had never seen her happier. The day they were to leave, the car broke down. There was no money to fix it, and my grandmother was sitting in the kitchen crying. Dad says that he took one look at her, and he knew what he had to do.
He went straight to the bank and took out all of his savings for school and bought my granny a new car so that she could go on her trip. To me that is Inspirational.
Dad still went to school. He worked very hard that whole summer and saved enough money to go for one year. Knowing that he would have to work during the night and save money for the next year did not phase him. He loved his mom and to see her happy was all that mattered to him. Hats off to you Dad, you are an Inspirational Person.
In closing, my granny developed cancer. I was born in 1974 and got to spend 6 wonderful , love filled years with her, before she passed on. Funny thing is that I can still feel her love , her warmth and her strength with me each and every day.