We never got to play on a plauground, or anywhere else for that matter. We had to work, foraging for food, delivering 674 newspapers every day, collecting deposit bottles, whatever we had to do to keep the family fed and sheltered (our clothes were hand-me-down rags). When we weren't working we were in church praying. Sure, we'd see the rich kids or even the poor kids on the swings or the monkey bars or the sliding boards, but we knew that such could never be for us because every day was a struggle for simple survival. We gave every cent to Mom -- not for us bubble gum, soda or candy. No, we were lucky to find a nearly new sugar cube to share at Christmas.

And this work and religious ethic has carried into our adult life.