KMPH Fox 26 Central San Joaquin Valley News Source in Fresno, California Entertainment, News, Sports and Weather | Depression Survivors Lend Perspective on Economic Crisis

Depression Survivors Lend Perspective on Economic Crisis

By: Ashley Ritchie and Kyra J. Neyland

Fresno, Ca.-Seniors around the Valley say while today's crisis is undoubtedly serious, it's nowhere near the worst this country has seen.

Smiles are easy to come by at the Fig Garden Retirement Center.  It's a place where people know about economic crisis and how it takes a toll on life.

"We didn't have a change of clothes everyday like they do now. You had one outfit and you were lucky to have that," 91-year-old Jane McCullough said.

"During grammar school days I walked two miles with my brother and sister. And I had big holes in my shoes and I'd put cardboard in them. By the time I got to school, it was worn out," 95-year-old Althea Wheat said.

"That's the reason we only had one daughter. We couldn't afford another child," 99-year-old Alma Johnston said.

Johnston got married and gave birth to her daughter during the largest economic depression in modern history. She still remembers the "walnut meatloaf" she'd make just so her family could get the nutrients they needed.

"We couldn't afford to buy meat, anything but hamburger. My husband knew a place where black walnuts were falling on the ground. And he went and picked up a lot of those black walnuts and that was our protein," Johnston said.

"The year that I started high school they couldn't afford to have yearbooks. And we did not have a yearbook in my high school until I was a senior," McCullough said.

Times were tough. But for a period called "The Depression," these ladies don't remember being depressed at all.

"I was a happy kid. I grew up happy as a lark," Wheat said.

"I didn't know what having a lot of extra stuff was," 91-year-old Verda Nystrom said.

"We had nothing, but we were happy," Johnston said.

They were happy for what they had, instead of what they didn't.

"If you're handed everything on a silver platter, it doesn't mean that much," Johnston said.

As they reflect on a past where suppers were uncertain; clothes a necessity not an expression, and gardens for survival not hobby, these women say through struggles comes strength.

"You can't say I can't do that. I can do it," Nystrom said.

"There's always a way out if you trust in the Lord. I always figured whatever came, I could make it through it. And I did," Wheat said.

A little perspective from those who've seen desperation first hand and still find a reason to smile.

These ladies say during hard times, relying on family was crucial and they developed stronger bonds because they depended on each other to make it through.