I never realized growing up we were poor. As others have said, we always had food, a warm bed and shelter and protection from the "boogie man". The love my parents had for us was palpable. One of many lessons I learned at home was to have a sense of humor and to be able to laugh at myself. We learned to say, "please" and "thank you", to be polite and the importance and joy of reading and I have many fond memories of laying on my Grandmother's glider on the back porch and reading books in the summer. Life was not perfect then but, I wouldn't trade it for the world.