Stories of old from York, Pennsylvania

For my son's 15th birthday, my Aunt sent family pictures and a letter that chronicled the Kauffman side of his family. As he dug through the envelope looking for money, I deeply enjoyed her account.

As we ponder the issues of modern life and wade through rough economic waters, it's helpful to reflect upon how others before us have gotten through trying times. Here's a few examples from my own stock:

-My great grandparents owned a bakery in York, Pennsylvania from I believe 1910 into the 1960s. To keep production up my great grandmother went without sleep, save an occasional hour, every Thursday night to bake 80 pies by hand. She'd roll out the dough, mix the filling and sell the pies the following day.

-My great, great grandmother Kate and her husband Pat purchased a huge Victorian home when they married around the turn of the century. Though its structure was impressive, the home did not have indoor plumbing - nor a root cellar. The lack of cool space to store food was more distressing to Kate than going to the bathroom in an outhouse. Her husband did not see the importance of a root cellar so Kate took matters into her own hands and dug one herself - shovel by shovel, month after month. She had her root cellar.

-My great grandfather, Earl Kauffman, hunted raccoon during the Great Depression so that he could sell their pelt. One night he went hunting alone and in the dark (not a good idea). He tripped, fell and broke his leg. So that he could make it back alive, he had no choice but to set his own leg - and he did. When he went to see the doctor the next day the doc proclaimed that Earl had done his work for him. Wow. Talk about surviving.

If you find these stories sweet or impressive, visit NPR's site for more personal accounts of how people made it through the depression. The stories are heartwarming: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97468008