Growing Up During The Great Depression

Growing up during the Great Depression, my aunt, Virginia Beadle knew how it was to have little, and yet, her parents, my grandparents, George and Hattie Byer made sure that their kids had everything they needed. I suppose that kids of today would feel that they were somehow cheated, because they weren’t given everything they wanted, including the moon. The kids of the depression era mostly knew that they were blessed to have anything they were given. That is probably why my grandparents’ kids were very grounded in their philosophy on life. The times demanded hard work and giving.

They spent a lot of time outdoors, and they knew about things like foraging for herbs, hunting for rocks, and snakes to stay away from. When tested, so to speak, Aunt Virginia stepped out the front door of the house when she was living with her son Steve and his wife, Wanda. Then, she immediately stepped back into the house. She told the boys who were there, that there was a rattle snake by the front door, and she said it was huge!! The boys had no idea that their mom might know snakes, and they thought she was a typical girl, afraid of any old snake. They said it was probably a garter snake. Well, it wasn’t a garter snake, and Aunt Virginia wasn’t a typical girl who was afraid of a snake. After Steve had killed the rattle snake and cut off his head and rattle, he measured the snake. Steve is 5’8″, and just holding the snake up, it hit the ground when Steve held it just under his chin. That is a big snake. I’m sure they believed that she knew a rattle snake after that.

Aunt Virginia, like all her siblings was used to foraging and even, treasure hunting. One time she found a particular treasure that blessed the whole family, really. Aunt Virginia was about 8 or 10 years old. She was playing outside in the yard with her siblings. For some reason, Aunt Virginia decided to go exploring at the side of the house, between their house and Great Grandma Byer’s house. She looked at the little flower garden there and saw something shiny. She didn’t even have to dig for it. When she picked it up, she saw that his was a man’s wedding ring. Great Grandpa was long dead, and her dad, Grandpa George Byer, had decided to forego a wedding ring so that he could give his bride, her mom and my grandma, Hattie Byer a wedding ring. Obviously, this was an exciting, and quite likely valuable, find. Aunt Virginia took the ring to show her dad. Grandpa looked at it and told her it was a beautiful ring. He put it on his hand and looked at it. Then he took it off and gave it back to Aunt Virginia. She said, “Daddy, you should keep it.” He said he couldn’t, but she insisted, and that is how my grandfather got his wedding band from his daughter. Aunt Virginia was so pleased to be able to give her dad the wedding ring he had never had and would not be able to buy for himself, as there were too many other things that his paycheck was needed for. And Grandpa was so pleased that she wanted him to have such a beautiful ring. He wore the ring proudly for the rest of his life. And everyone in the family was pleased that he had been blessed with the ring. It was typical of Aunt Virginia, who was always a kind and loving person, and I can see how that ring made her day, as much as it did Grandpa’s. Today would have been Aunt Virginia’s 95th birthday. Happy birthday in Heaven, Aunt Virginia. We love and miss you very much!!