Many people will not ever understand the effects of poverty until they see a single mom cry because she can't feed her kids. Or watch a single mom put off buying herself footwear because her kids need clothes, so she goes to her secretarial job wearing running shoes. She saves the bus fare and walks there despite it taking over an hour. She tells the kids that the burnt-edge part of the egg is bacon, so the kids think that's what bacon is for many years. And you see her at Christmas hoping for a miracle because she has nothing to put under the tree. It does bad things to the human spirit. It did to hers, and I often think she never forgave herself for it although I know for fact her kids didn't think there was anything needing forgiveness. I hope in death she's finally found the peacefulness she didn't have for much of her life.