Auntie Jen's Family Trees: Week 46: Poor Man

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Week 46: Poor Man

I've heard many stories about my dad and his siblings growing up. A lot of them are riddled with humor. Every gettogether I hear a new story I had never heard before. I am trying to record as many of them as I can to preserve the history of our family. I've heard stories about my Aunts & Uncles playing circus in the barn they used to live in. I've heard stories about Christmases and who got what. I've heard stories about gardening and food they used to eat. But the most important thing I would hear in all the stories was no matter what little money they had, their mom, my grandma, always made sure the kids were fed, clothed, warm and always had Christmas presents. Why was this such an important fact? My Papa and Grandma were by many standards, poor.

My Papa was a very skilled carpenter. He could build just about anything from the ground up. One of his specialties was concrete. Dad told me how talented he was when it came to forming things with concrete. Sadly, there were times he was out of work, so money was very scarce. Papa also had a drinking problem, which added to their rough circumstances.

My dad also told me about all the places they had lived. They lived in Kirkwood, Missouri for a few years, in houses my Papa built. They tried acquiring a restaurant in Arnold, Missouri, but that fell through. After that, they had to live in a small clubhouse that was situated on the Big River and Meramec River near House Springs and Eureka, Missouri. My Papa closed it up the best he could to keep the family safe from the outside elements. Dad said he didn't have the best memories from living there. Then they were trying to also buy a house in Times Beach, a small town next to Eureka, Missouri, but that also fell through. It was that event that caused them to move into the barn in High Ridge, Missouri.

The barn was just exactly what you would expect. A barn with a loft. The lower level was the kitchen and living room, and the loft was where everyone slept, where the only walls/divisions were curtains. Growing up in the barn wasn't easy for my Dad and his family. But they sure made the best of it. And like I mentioned above with all the stories I have heard, even though my family didn't have a lot of money, they were definitely rich with love. I'm working on putting together a small video of my Dad and his family talking about the barn. My Uncle Marty owns the property now. To this day, all my family gets together for gatherings all the time. We are up to four living generations. I am definitely blessed to have the family I have. We are not perfect, nor are we all the richest, but we have each other and that is priceless.