One of the saddest family stories that I know from the Great Depression involves my granny (my daddy's mama). My granny was born in 1921. I cannot be exactly sure of when this event happened, but it was before 1936(the year her daddy died). The way Granny described it, she was a little girl, so it was likely early on in the Depression. They were having supper at her daddy's sister's house. Granny's aunt served the food to everyone, then served fried chicken to her own children, but not the other children. My granny wanted some of the fried chicken, too, as any child would. She was upset because she didn't have any, so she was crying and I think maybe begging for some of the chicken. She got in trouble for this. I do not know if she got a spanking, though given the time frame, I feel it was likely. To this day, this story makes me cry for my granny and very upset with my great-grandfather and his sister. If Aunt M didn't have enough for at least all of the children that were at her table, then she shouldn't have served it at all. She could have given it to her own children later, after her brother's family had gone home. Granny most certainly shouldn't have been in trouble for being a normal, hungry child. I am not sure if my last paragraph counts as judging their lives by current standards or not, but I think that I would have felt the very same way about it way back in the late 1920s/early 1930s. I could tell as Granny recounted the story to me that it had hurt her deeply. Little kids don't understand about the country's economy. They just know they are hungry and the other kids have a good food that they don't have. I wish that I could say that was the last of the hurts that my granny endured, but there were many more over the course of her life. She wore a mask of brusqueness to hide the hurt that she bore. I was scared of "ganny" when I was a little girl. Once I got older, and she shared with me the heartbreaks of her life, I couldn't help but fully love her. She was hard on the outside, but a total teddy bear on the inside. Her gruffness was her way of protecting herself from more hurt. If she didn't let her guard down, no one could hurt her. I was blessed to be let in, on the other side of that "guard" and be loved by one of the strongest women that I ever knew. Thanks for this video, Devon. I will try to get better at writing the stories that are a part of my family history. I'm sorry this was so long. The mention of the Great Depression always brings this to mind. Have a blessed night.

Always a good refresher, adding color to the story. The dry stuff is important but the color makes it interesting.

One caveat: if this book will be published, even privately, make sure all newspaper clippings are copyright free/public domain. Judy Russell has excellent blog posts on that. The chances of being sued are pretty slim, but err on the side of caution and law.

My Irish orphan family is more of a research paper at this point. I've found 3 potential people in the immigration records so far, and maybe I'll find something in the British archives on the orphans re-homed in Canada. It could be a good story. Also the wife, may be a descendant of the person who originally made the deal with the natives to "purchase" the area of Kingston, Ontario. Now that would be an interesting story.

Thanks, Devon. :) Yes, that makes sense. I will try to remember to start a new comment when I have something to say that might get long-winded. Have a blessed day.