Today I am going to post a note from my Facebook friend who lives in Louisiana, Christy Cole. I was so struck by her account of an incident in her young life that it rekindled similar thoughts from my own childhood. Here is her account and sharing stories from others is a new feature I may employ in the future.
"I went to bed thinking about how our leaders are stealing so much, they need to steal foodstamps from kids and seniors, too. ... And just as I woke up this morning I had the weirdest, clearest 80s flashback to when I was 10. Saw a replay of the whole thing. ... Our entire family was pretty much starved and food was being highly rationed. Working adults get the Lions Share, and the rest just make do with scraps. It was during the summer so, not even school lunches to supplement. ... Anyways, I could not take it anymore, was just drove. I was already pretty scrawny but, my family was caught in it for months. So I went into what little food there was, and stole a piece of bread. And my oldest sister caught me eating it. ... She beat the hell out of me while dragging me around by my hair for what seemed like forever. For a piece of bread. ... And this morning, when it again popped up in my mind, I wasn't expecting the clarity of it. It was always there, so I do not really feel anything about it. But, my hands started shaking. They never shake. And for hours now, I do not even dare try holding a paintbrush or a glass. I have no idea why. ... Not sure what my point is really, other than... Most of you who go along with this idea that true hunger does not really exist in the USA, you are either blind, or have never actually SEEN it. If you had ever actually SEEN IT... Yall would not be so quick to arbitrarily starve your neighbors. Or their kids."-Christy Cole, June 2, 2013.
"I went to bed thinking about how our leaders are stealing so much, they need to steal foodstamps from kids and seniors, too. ... And just as I woke up this morning I had the weirdest, clearest 80s flashback to when I was 10. Saw a replay of the whole thing. ... Our entire family was pretty much starved and food was being highly rationed. Working adults get the Lions Share, and the rest just make do with scraps. It was during the summer so, not even school lunches to supplement. ... Anyways, I could not take it anymore, was just drove. I was already pretty scrawny but, my family was caught in it for months. So I went into what little food there was, and stole a piece of bread. And my oldest sister caught me eating it. ... She beat the hell out of me while dragging me around by my hair for what seemed like forever. For a piece of bread. ... And this morning, when it again popped up in my mind, I wasn't expecting the clarity of it. It was always there, so I do not really feel anything about it. But, my hands started shaking. They never shake. And for hours now, I do not even dare try holding a paintbrush or a glass. I have no idea why. ... Not sure what my point is really, other than... Most of you who go along with this idea that true hunger does not really exist in the USA, you are either blind, or have never actually SEEN it. If you had ever actually SEEN IT... Yall would not be so quick to arbitrarily starve your neighbors. Or their kids."-Christy Cole, June 2, 2013.
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