My Great Grandparents were certainly prosperous in family - within 7 Years of marriage, they had produced 5 children, Gramps had built the family a brand-new house, and the rest of Gram's family from Missouri had just moved in down the block. I believe that house was also built by Gramps and his brother in law.
In 1930, that little house on what (then) was the edge of the city was valued at a whopping $1500 (today's $27,500, which will scarcely buy a car anymore, let alone a house). I spent some time in that house as a child, and it wasn't a matchbox, but the kitchen certainly was no more than a handful of square feet. Gramps and Grams lived there for more than 50 years and took in both extended family over the years and added on and moved in their daughter's family. To say that their family bond was tight would be minimizing their bond. My grandmother was the oldest of the five sisters, and they were called (or called themselves) "The Dolls of Dahle Street" and their brothers were adored and adoring. Certainly, none of them were perfect or lived a life of perfection, but to be among them, any of them, was to be loved.
My Grandmother often told stories of lean times, about how the living room was bare when she was a child, about how the only furniture was the pot-bellied stove, even about a fire at home when she was 9 that burned the Christmas presents. But she also talked about his parents and siblings with affection, about her aunt and grandmother with longing, and added stories and anecdotes about stringing popcorn, singing songs like "You Are My Sunshine" and "How Much is That Doggy in the Window." I've learned about pulling taffy at home, and about how Uncle Harry raised rabbits in the yard.
An actual quote, that Gramma said to me many, many times (I was extraordinarily blessed, I had her until I was 50!) was this "We may not have had any money, but we had each other." It was an excellent lesson. Because Grandma had been wealthy, so am I.
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