I grew up in a middle class home in a city of about 25,000 people. My Dad was a machine operator on a railroad; my Mom stayed at home to raise my older brother and me until I started school. After that, she worked part time in the local school district so that she’d be home when my brother and I were. There wasn’t much discretionary income left after their paychecks were divvied up to pay the bills, but our lives were rich in all of the ways that mattered.
