My mom was reminiscing about her childhood at dinner today. Even though her father couldn’t write, he was quite a business man. He owned the building with his bakery on the street level. He leased out part of it to a barber and another part to a painter for storage. Upstairs was the family home. But there was also another apartment that was leased to another family. In my mom’s family residence lived my mother and her 3 siblings, her parents, and her grandfather. Her parents had a bedroom with a bed. Her brother and grandfather shared a bed. She shared a sofa bed with her sister. And her little brother was in a crib. There was 1 bathroom that was shared by the family and the bakery, so the bakers would come upstairs to use it at all hours of the day. They had no shower, just a bathtub that they used to bathe in once a week. My mom remembered a friend whose father was wealthy. They bought a shower when they first became available. The friend showered every day before school, which seemed very odd to the other kids. Of course it was very different times 80 years ago. And that was different from 80 years before that. I always enjoy listening to my mom reminisce and am always in awe of how my grandfather ran his business and took care of his family without every being able to write.

I Found God today listening to old family stories.