Family in the Great Depression
By: Amir, 5th
grade
October 3rd 2008
The sun fades away behind the mountains, and the long streaks of clouds take place of the sun. I sit down on the cement sidewalk, waiting for Daddy to come and say in his loud voice, “Come on sweetie, may we go to George’s! A little dinner won’t hurt and the tobacco will not hurt either, but only for Daddy of course!” And we would go to George’s near by the little crosswalk on Harper Drive, and we would pay for a loaf of bread, (and occasionally a cigarette) with the small amount of money Daddy and I made by being newspaper delivers. Though the content of it was not complex at all we were lucky to have jobs in the Great Depression, such a hard financial time.
As I sat on the cement, I watched a hoard of ants collect bread crumbs and deposit them into their anthill where they disappeared into when a Model T carrying a rich lady in a pink plaid dress zoomed down the dirt road and in moments it was gone. “I wish we had one of those things” I found myself thinking as I wiped the mud off my overalls for I saw my mountainous, burly Daddy coming around the corner. After he was about a yard away from me he paused, caught his breath and yelled:
“Helen! Helen! Go to George’s! Mama, Zelda, and Tom are already there! I see you there! Don’t worry, I’ll be there soon!
Knowing it was impolite to ask Daddy what he was getting his aged head into now I rounded the corner and began the familiar walk to George’s. Passing Wall Street I grimaced, for it was where President Hoover started the Depression shebang. I did not know much about it really, but I felt Mama and Daddy were wisest and they would tell me every last detail of it when the time was right. After taking quick glances at both Main Street and the Great White Way, I came to the dog sized pond where I splashed and frolicked to wash away my trouble but suddenly I continued stepping over the rickety bridge that was called the Crosswalk.
Turning a slight right, George’s came into view. George’s was a structure made of wood that had an old party banner with balloons that announced “Welcome to George’s!” Daddy said that banner had been there since before I was born and I was eleven now. I reckon that banner had been there even before Stonehenge was built. Ringing the doorbell only to find that the door was unlocked, I, Helen went inside.
George’s, even though it was 1934, still had that early 1920’s style to it. Smiling to myself, (for I remembered the good 1920’s) I peered in every direction hoping to find Mama, Zelda’s, and Tom’s table. Finally, I spotted it in the far right corner. As I walked toward the table where my family was sitting, Tom winked, Zelda waved and Mama blew kisses. Tom, Zelda and Mama all offered me their chairs. Not wanting to upset anyone I pulled over my own chair. When they gave their offerings of love, my only thought was “How good it is to be with family at the end of day.”