I remember growing up as the proud daughter of a military man. My dad served both in WWII and Korea. As you can imagine, a Marine Corps sergeant’s pay was modest. The funny thing about those early years is that I never thought of us as being poor or low-income. We always had the basics and my mom had an amazing talent for making simple things special.
At Christmas time, mom really went all out. We decorated with paper chains and popcorn garlands. She made the most of our gifts. My favorite was a stuffed dog she made from a real fur coat she got at a thrift store. She made everything in two’s—one for my sister and one for me: a pair of dogs; two sets of Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls. I got to help stuff the arms for the dolls. I never figured out that I had stuffed eight arms until Christmas morning when I also received the beloved dolls! Our simple, homemade Christmas was filled with love and joy.
Growing up this way made me thrifty, so naturally SHARE makes perfect sense to me. Why pay full price for food if you can get it for less? If you purchased a BIG Value Package monthly in 2010, you saved approximately $287! With so many people unemployed, the need to save is more important than ever. I hope you will tell your friends about SHARE so they can start saving, too.
To each of you I send wishes for love and joy this holiday season. May you find something special in the simple gifts of friendship and community.