Like Fungo, I grew up in Appalacia (NW Pa) but my parents were not as poor but of lower middle class. One thing I have learned in life is that you can always find someone who is worse off than you were and thus there is usually something to be thankful for. My father grew up on a farm and had seven brothers and sisters. My mother had eight brothers and sisters and her family had less than what Fungo described. I have many cousins on both sides that have enriched my life.
My great grandparents emigrated from Russia just before the Bolshevik revolution. My great grandmother was Orthodox Catholic and her father was a highly educated bishop in the Orthodox church. I believe my great grandfather was Jewish and being of mixed faith, they found life untennable in Russia. They came through Ellis Island and were determined to make a new life here in America. They lived in NYC for a time before moving to Youngstown Ohio where my great grandfather found work in the steel mills. Tragically, he caught pneumonia in his early 20's and died leaving his widow with four infant children - one of them being my grandfather. My great grandmother could speak five languages and eventually remarried to a widower who also had four children. In those days, the ethnic community looked out for one another. Thus, if someone became a widow or an orphan, someone in the community would see to it that the family was cared for.
Shortly thereafter, four other children lost both their parents within 6 months of each other and this ethnic couple who already had eight children of their own took them in thus giving them a family of 12. Talk about sacrifice for the good of the community. My grandmother was from one of these four orphaned children brought into the family. Bascially, my grandparents grew up together as children because of rather tragic circumstances and eventually married. One interesting thing was that although all the kids could speak Russian and it was understood, it was forbidden to be spoken in the home. They felt they were in America and only English was now acceptible.
All my grandparents like many of yours have been dead for many years now. My grandmother was the most influential person in my life and the reason is simple - she believed in me.
My Dad is the hardest working guy I have ever known and my Mom is the most organized. She taught me how to solve any problem by creating lists for me as a kid. Everyday before she went to work, she would leave me a list of chores/tasks to be done before she got home. My Dad was often grumpy because he worked in a foundry but I learned if the lawn was mowed or the driveway was shoveled before he got home that would put him in a good mood.
My main goals in high school were like many young men today and that was to meet the young girls. School was a lower priority and that was a mistake because I had the ability to do well in school.
I went to a techinical school for electronics after high school for two years. Electronics it was felt would support my budding career as a rock musician. Funny thing happened and I got a job working with MRI before anyone knew what MRI was. I found I liked the complexities offered in the electronics field. After a year or two, I started back to night school and spent the next 10 years earning an Electrical Engineering degree at night while raising three young children and working full time. In 1994 at the age of 34, I went to Law School. I graduated law school at age of 38 and have been a patent attorney ever since. We represent the most famous companies in the world and it is indeed high reward yet with equally high stress.
I have learned that it is never too late to get an education and that you can make up for mistakes in your youth. I have tried to pass on to my kids however it is better not to make the mistakes in the first place.