My Childhood Essay, Research Paper

My Childhood

The twelvemonth is 1920. I am 13 old ages old. I live in Mystic Iowa, a coal excavation community. I have merely started work in the coalmines with my male parent to keep support ma, pa and my eight brothers and sisters. Life is tough but we are all happy. I have a duty as the oldest male child and that is to assist out with money. ( Barb )

Work in the mines is non steady. They shut down in April and they start back up in August, since there is no demand for coal in the summer. ( Stromquist, 34 ) So I had to discontinue school and assist out. This allows us adequate money to acquire pass. My male parent told me it was my duty to assist out, since I was the oldest. I don t mined. I like the work and experience good about assisting.

The other male childs my age are still in school. I see them everyday on my manner to the mine but I don t get to speak to them because I can t be late to work. Peter is the lone friend my age that works in the mine. Peters father died last twelvemonth and he has a duty to back up his female parent and two sisters. ( Barb ) Peter and I get along good because we are the same age and work together. My other friends want me to play when I get place from work but most of the clip I am excessively tired. It is difficult for them to understand why. I guess someday they will calculate it out.

My occupation in the mine is to pick. I hold a steel pole with a pointed terminal for picking and a level terminal for hammering. ( Striecher ) I have a spouse, Pat. His occupation is to hit the level portion of the rod with a maul and I hold it. I watch for the

coal. When I see coal, I put my pollex over the terminal of the pole so glib knows when to halt hitting it. I can t yell because he won t hear me with all the noise of other workers hammering. Sometimes my thumb gets hit. At first it hurt but now I don t feel it. Pat doesn T mean to hit me its merely portion of the occupation.

Mother bakes bread six yearss a hebdomad. The lone twenty-four hours she doesn t bake staff of life is Sunday. Gods twenty-four hours. ( Billie ) My pa would purchase 20 pouch of flower in April, when we had reasonably good payroll checks. We had strawberries in the summer and sold a few for money but largely gave them off. The first Meleagris gallopavo that I of all time had, a neighbour adult female won at a Halloween dance, she cooked it and brought half of it over for my household. ( Billie ) My male parent gave them six or eight boxes of strawberries in trade. We were neighbours and we helped one another.

I admire my male parent for his difficult work. Someday I hope to be like him. If people merely understood the forfeits he has made for my household. Dad has taught me what it takes to be a adult male. He says being a adult male is simple it takes difficult work a finding. I know I work hard but I haven t figured out what he means by finding. He says that will come with clip.

The mines are supposed to be empty in a few old ages. ( Striecher ) I have to happen some different work so. I want to construct houses. If I do that I could construct one for ma and pa. They need a bigger one. I owe to them for all the things they have done for me anyways. If ma and pa merely understood how grateful I am for what I have, and how I admire what they have done for the household.