After about fifteen minutes of pure catch up, I decided to redirect the topic of the conversation to what the call was purposefully for. Marty, “Uncle Marty” to me, has been my grandpa’s best friend since day one. When he heard of my English project last week when out to dinner with my grandparents, he quickly jumped on the bandwagon and soon became my second interviewee.
“So just speak about your experiences that you remember from the time. No boundary, the floor is entirely yours.” I said confidently
“Lauren, as we both know, when the topic of conversation has to do with anything history or social studies related, I can go on for hours. Are you sure you don’t want to limit my dialect by asking me specific questions?” And even though I knew this interview had the potential to take up a good portion of my night, I merely said, “The floor is entirely yours.” And so, with no hesitation, he began…
“As you already know, or may not know, I grew up in Newark, New Jersey in a family of five. I was sandwiched between two sisters and surrounded by pure love from my parents.” There was a brief stutter in his thoughts and then he got right back on track.
“My father was in the midst of starting up a business as the economic crisis hit, so as you can imagine, there was very little to no money in our household. The entire family had to contribute financially, whatever which way that was.” I listened intently as there was a pause for him to clear his throat.
“Since I was only a little boy at the time, there were limitations on how I could truly contribute, but I still found a way to be effective. My father had a workshop in our basement, and since we were quite low on money, most of the presents my sisters and I received were made by my father with some wood, a few tools and a whole lot of heart.” He chuckled
“One of these presents I received was a wooden wagon that was painted a bright dazzling red color. I would wheel this wagon to the supermarket every single day, and made a dime a person by wheeling people’s groceries to their houses after they endured a long day at the market. I would repeat this over and over again until the sky got dark and I could bring home a sufficient days worth of money to my father.
I sat in my chair amazed at his hard work and determination that was apparent from such a young age.
“Wow!” I said. That was the only word that made its way out of my mouth.
“Shall I continue?” he asked
“Yes, Yes, Please!” I responded swiftly
“Thinking back to the depression, one thing that always comes to mind is soup!!” He said that in a vibrant tone! “My mother made soup for dinner almost every day of the week due to the fact that it was inexpensive and nourishing at the same time, mushroom barely to be specific! It was filled with tons of veggies and grains, notice how no protein was included because that was the expensive stuff, yet to this day, mushroom barely soup is still my favorite! In fact, your grandmother makes a superb one of her own.”
I smiled widely, agreeing with the comment he made about my grandma’s cooking.
“One last thing I would like to share with you about the depression is in regards to the actual monetary effect it had on my family. My parents would not buy something until they had the exact money to pay for it up front. They did not like owing money at all. As you imagine, my parents had quite a hard time adjusting to credit cards or as they referred to them as “plastic money,” years after the depression. I distinctly remember my father receiving his American Express Bill every month and immediately taking out his check book to pay the expense right away.”
It was suddenly all clear to me, I now knew why Marty and my grandfather were the bests of friends… they both were amazing story tellers! As we concluded our discussion, I thanked him repeatedly for helping me out with my interview and he responded by saying;
“Now don’t be a stranger, keep in touch, I love hearing from you… but make sure to call your grandpa first, or else he will get jealous!”
"Depressing Times: Then and Now Slideshow." Depressing Times: Then and Now Slideshow. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.