Tuesday, May. 17, 2005 - 6:49 p.m.

The Poorhouse among other things-Kinkade rain pic

What got me thinking about the Poorhouse this morning was 1d's living arrangements and wondering if she would soon get SS. It is over 2 years since her seizure and resulting brain damage and she has not worked. I don't know how she has survived even with 3s and I helping her with some things and the government programs she has also used. She can't drive anymore, among other problems, and life has been pretty tough. She has had her times of depression but has started trusting in You more lately. That doesn't mean things have gotten any better. In fact, in a few areas they have even gotten worse, but her spirit is better than I have seen it in years. So why was I thinking about the Poorhouse?

If this had been a few decades ago, there would be no SS, no programs. She and the children would have had to come back here, and they would be welcome even now. Here or the Poorhouse, there would have been no other alternatives. So how did folks manage then. My own grandparents had 5 acres and raised strawberries for a cash crop. They were very poor, but they had a garden, a cow, chickens, and probably a pig. Cash was very scarce and Grandad was a drinker and probably did away with what little did come along. But the Poorhouse was avoided.

There are the remains of the Poorhouse in our area. Rock walls surround the decaying tumbledown rock structure that was used at least to the early 40's. 800 remembers 'Uncle Willie' being there. Probably not a true uncle or he would have been with the folks, just like the grandfolks were. That's what families did back then. Took in the relatives that fell upon reverses in life. That wasn't all bad. The kids greatly benefitted from an extended family and so did the adults. Women visited together while completing the monumental tasks of keeping a family fed and clothed, and the men share the heavy workload at the beginning of the great production. Recreation was pretty skimpy, but the simple pleasures of life still existed.

Rainy days aren't appreciated as much as they once were.

EE's devotional

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