My Grandparents Journey Through Life

Many consider the Great Depression a tragedy but few actually know the ways in which it actually affected the people who lived through it. One way it affected the people of the time is the hopelessness it brought. During the early 1920's many men returned from the "Great War" jaded and angry. The same effect was seen in most people during the depression. It was this hopelessness that spawned modernist literature and thought. Another way the depression affected the everyday man was the loss of homes. Many homes were foreclosed during the depression and this left many homeless. In fact the "Okies" were people left homeless after farm foreclosures. The last way the depression affected people was the broken homes it caused. The number of father's leaving their families rose dramatically during

It was near the end of winter 2005, when my grand-aunt suddenly fell ill. In a short period of time her illness worsened and the doctors informed my family, my grand-aunt only had a couple of months to live. The news was devastating to my family as we watched a vivacious, independent, and outspoken woman, who enjoyed shopping, reading mystery novels and spending time with family become very weak and confined to her bed. Instead of placing my grand-aunt in a hospice facility, my family and I, with the assistance of a hospice nurse cared for my grand-aunt in her home until her passing.

When you think of losing a grandparent in your life, you think of them passing away. You dread the day you will get the call that they are sick. You then begin to cherish all the moments you have with them leading up to their passing. You have time to except their sickness, and come to terms with the outcome that is to come. My PopPop is not here anymore, but do not get confused, for he is alive. I did not have warning. I did not have time to cherish him. I did not have time to say goodbye. My PopPop was on no medication, which was almost uncanny for a 75-year-old. Trying to encompass everything he was boils down to a few things that may not seem like much to someone who didn’t know him. He went on a walk every night after dinner, and would whistle the same tune when he was happy. He played the same little ditty on the piano every time we were all in the living room. He was a simple man who could not harm a fly, and a good man. Unlike the grandchild warned when they are going to lose a grandparent, I did not have this notice. I did not have time to go on one last walk with him, and I did not have time to record him on the piano. I did not have time to replicate his whistling song, or to spend time with the man I knew. My PopPop was the heathiest man I knew, but then he got depression. First slowly, then all at once. The man I knew had slipped from my fingers without any chance to hold on tighter.

The great depression was a terrible time for many families in the United States. After the economic boost of the 1920’s, many people spent their many on stocks and credit. Everything went wrong after the stock market crash on October 29. 1929. People lost the money they had in banks when they panicked and tried to get all their money out at the same time. The banks didn’t have enough money to give back.The Braddock family suffered economic hardship, emotional distress and family unity during the great depression. The Braddock family had trouble with finding money, paying bills, keeping it together- both their emotions and family.

The Great Depression first started as early as 1928, but did not affect the United States until 1929. The Great Stock Market crash started the event of the Depression here in America, but was not the main cause to why it happened. During the early stages of the depression, President Hoover failed to help the economy and continued with his belief system of giving people the least help they needed, so they can earn themselves a rightful spot with pride, not with government’s help. The Great Depression was a very intense experience for us, even until today, the

The Great Depression was an economic downturn in America that lasted from 1929 until about 1939, making it the longest lasting depression ever experienced by the industrialized world. The stock market crash caused a chain reaction that involved problems such as unemployment, deflation, an increase in debt, and general poverty for lower class citizens. Attempts at escaping the depression weren’t altogether successful. In fact, most of the efforts resulted in high consumer debt as well as over optimistic loans given to the public by banks and business investors. The Depression caused severe political changes in the US as well as its obvious economic failures. After three years of the depression, Herbert Hoover lost the presidential election

The Great Depression was a very influential era in American history, affecting many future generations. One of the most prevalent impacts it had on society was the extreme poverty that swept across the nation, affecting both people in cities and in the country. The main cause for this poverty was the mass loss of jobs among the middle class. Millions lost their jobs and consequently their homes. Families lived out of tents and cars in shanty towns or Hoovervilles. In these camps, many people didn’t have their basic human needs met, children and adults alike starved. They lived in clothes that were caked in dirt and tattered, too small for growing children and too cold for the frail elderly. Government relief programs attempted to help but offered little support to the now impoverished families of the millions that lost everything.

“Growing up in a time when all you worry about is if your family will be able to make it through to the next day is definitely a very scary and difficult time to live in” (Vonder Haar). My great-grandpa had this to say to my grandpa about growing up during the great depression. For many people in America from the 1930s to 1940s, life was a constant struggle. The people living in the Midwest, especially St. Louis, knew much too well how difficult it was to live through the great depression. When great-great grandpa first came to St. Louis from Germany he purchased a farm. From that point on, my family struggled to maintain the farm that would still exist today. Many people were affected by the great depression. Throughout the time period before

“At one point in the Depression, the cupboard was literally bearing of money.” What effect did the Great Depression have on the people who lived through it? The jobs they had, how they had to use their money, and the help they had to get.

The Great depression began in 1929 with a dramatic event called that Wall Street Crash. This led to the failure of banks and businesses all over the United States. Millions of people lost all their savings and their jobs, and thousands became homeless because they could not afford to pay their rent. Some homeless families lived in shacks made of cardboard. Others took the road to look for work. (Bingham J.) As it could be imagined it was very disheartening to many as losing everything that was worked hard for. Many events took place during this time, like the Stock Market Crash, The Dust Bowl, The New Deal and also Prohibition that changed the outcome of what people could and couldn’t do.

The Great Depression was one of the worst economic recessions experienced in the industrialized Western world. On October of 1929, the stock market crashed, causing employment rates to reach all-time low and left millions of Americans in poverty. This tragic event demonstrates a poorly-run government and economy, which we attempt to avoid today. Yet, Richard Wormser’s book, Growing Up in the Great Depression, shows us the conditions that led to the Great Depression present in our society today.

During the Great Depression roughly 25% of the workers were 15 years old or younger, 20% of the children were starving and didn’t have access to new clothes and other necessities and about 40% of the young adults 16-24 were either unemployed or not in school. This shows that a great majority of the youth living during this time were not able to experience a normal childhood where they went to school and came home to play with their friends, because they had to work and were not able to attend school and get a proper education. Most of the kids also went to bed starving because their families could not afford to pay for food. Living as a child during the Great Depression was incredibly challenging

The Great Depression shut down down many banks and took away everyone’s money in the 1930’s. The Great Depression caused many people to not have foods and it didn’t rain that much during 1930’s. They lost their jobs and they didn’t have any money to afford things. They also made their own jobs just to get money to buy stuffs. They did everything just to get money. In the Great Depression the dad works a lot for his family. He has to farm foods for so they could eat. Also they work really hard but they don’t get money. That’s why they're poor and they have to work hard to protect their family. The Great Depression weather wasn’t that nice because they have a really dry land.

The Great Depression Oppression Today’s generations cannot imagine the challenges, depravations, and hardships of the Great Depression. In the early 1930’s the family income was cut in half. With the collapse of the banking system, many families lost their savings and could not afford to pay rent; they were evicted from their homes. Multiple families were forced to crowd together in single-family dwellings.

When we were together we were invincible, us against the world. I’d look up to him, not only because he was 6’4, but because he was my grandpa. I have clear memories of him picking me up from school, playing old school reggae music during our adventurous car rides. We’d always sing along to our favorites, sometimes turn the music up so loud the people in the cars next to us could hear it. When I would visit his apartment, the familiar smell of drywall and pennies would fill the air. It was my hideaway, my home away from home. My grandpa collected pennies in water jugs. He would say that one day they’d be worth more than just pennies. I loved it there, not only because he had a freezer filled with many flavors of ice cream to which he would often say to me “you can have all you can eat” but because it was our time to bond. For five years it was my mom, my dad, and my grandpa helping me to grow. Those are my favorite people, my role models. Being around my grandpa brought me such comfort and joy.