My mother is on the left. She and my aunt were very close. They were not only sisters, but best friends. My mother also had two brothers, one older and one younger. Life wasn't easy growing up during the Great Depression. My mom told me many stories of how they sometimes had to buy food on credit or couldn't afford their rent. The oldest, my Uncle Ed, had to help support the family with his paper route, when he was old enough to have one.