Empty Fridge, Holes in Shoes

Sometimes I feel like I have already lived 2 lives- 1 as a child until I was 18 and the other from 18 until now.

From a combination of fighting parents and low money, it seemed like we were always struggling.

Some of the memories from the 80s/early 90s, I have blocked out, but some came to the surface recently:

• Holes in shoes. Using duct tape to repair them
• Empty fridge. I got in a strange habit of rearranging the existing food (usually mustard, milk, apples) to make it look like there was more food than there was. I did this the other day. My husband asked what I was doing. Then I realized I had gone back to that time when food was scarce.
• We couldn’t get new school clothes. If we did, it was from Salvation Army or Kmart.
• My father washing plastic wrap, after using it so he could reuse it
• Staying home when classmates were going on summer vacation. The school I went to did a lot of field trips, so I was able to travel a little like to Boston, NYC, etc.
• Getting made fun of in school for not having the right clothes
• Because we couldn’t afford a computer or word processor, I used an old typewriter to type my school papers.
• Taking hand me downs from neighbors and family…