I read the first page of Nickel and Dimed and completely disagreed with one word in particular. She says she is doing this project to see if she can live like the poor. I hate that word.
I grew up in a household where my father went from almost a six figure salary to completely unemployed, and my mother was supporting a family of 5 on a waitresses salary. We struggled financially and that was one of the worst things that could have happened to a family but its okay, because we had love. Love for each other, love from each other, love from friends and family, love from strangers, and joy in our lives.

Sure, there are people who have obscene amounts of money in the bank, as many cars as a car lot, 35 bedrooms and a two pools in the back yard.
I have love and blessings from my parents, brothers, aunts & uncles, cousins, friends, and even strangers.

When we were struggling we had people we loved and people we didn’t even know paying our bills. buying our groceries, buying our Christmas presents. It was incredible to experience this first hand. while this was life changing and probably the hardest thing that I have ever watched my parents go through, I have so much respect for them. My mother is the strongest person who I have ever met, and I appreciate her more than she will ever know. My father, had to realize that he was no longer the main income provider, and he took a job stocking shelves at Walmart over night for a few years.

My uncle has stepped up and helped me get through college, cosigning my loans buying my laptop, and helping with textbooks. I’ve started working 20 hours a week on campus, and I just recently got a job at a bar in the airport. I’m also giving up my apartment in Atlanta and moving back home to help my mother with parents with bills. While, I don’t want to, I will and everything will be okay.
So we may have had no money, we may have had no insurance, but we weren’t poor. We were so wealthy with love, and that’s what matters.