Half Broke Horses

I finished another book from the library today. It's a great way to satisfy my craving for reading but without the cost. I've saved a lot since utilizing the library rather then buying books off of ITUNES for my IPOD or going to Barnes and Noble. The book was called Half Broke Horses written by Jeannette Walls. I'd read her first book an autobiography called Glass Castles last year and was eager to see how her second novel faired. This time she writes about her Grandmother Lily and family.

Lily spent her childhood in the west on a cattle ranch in a family that was quite poor. Frugality was a way of life to them. I found her story quite refreshing and inspirational since she never gave up, never complained and always worked hard with whatever little she was handed to work with! It's set in the early 1900's on a remote ranch where Lily and her brother didn't have access to a lot of schooling. Work and survival were the majority of her education during her childhood. As was the mindset of the time since they lived off the land and were isolated from city living.

Lily finally got the chance for an education at a Catholic boarding school at the age of 13. There she excelled, finally being free to learn and do something all for herself! She didn't consider it hard work compared to ranch life. Even if at school she was working from morning til night on her studies, chores and religion. Sadly she was forced to return to the ranch after 2 short years.  Her Father had spent the following years tuition money on 4 specialty dogs he had planned to breed for extra income instead. So she returned home alone on the stage coach and once again went back to work managing the ranch since her father was disabled, her Mother was too frail a woman and her brother was just not managing material. But she still held out hope! 

Mother Superior had recognized Lily's intelligence and felt she'd make a wonderful teacher so she helped get her a job at a very remote one room school house in a tiny town 500 miles away from home.  The townspeople there didn't mind she didn't have a teaching certificate because she came well recommended, was willing to ride her horse alone for 28 days across the desert to get there and was willing to sleep on the school floor in her bed roll due to no housing accommodations. Here she found her 'purpose' as her father often talked to her about. She loved teaching the children about the world and all the things she thought they should know in order to have a chance at a better life one day. And no one around telling her what to do. But it all came to an end abruptly.  Qualified teachers were returning now that they were no longer needed in the factories helping with the war effort. So she was forced again to return to the ranch.

Eventually she was able to make her way to Chicago by train where she longed to get her teaching certificate so she would have better job security.  She had to work 3 jobs while going to night school and being new to the big city was a bit of a culture shock. She lived in a boarding house with 3 other women sharing one room. A year later she was taken in by a con man bigamist whom she'd married (then annulled) and her best friend was killed in a factory when her hair got caught in one of the big rollers crushing her. Needless to say she was devestated by all of this. Still she was a strong, independent, tenacious, fearless woman who stood up for what she believed in and learned from her mistakes so she never repeated them. The world seemed to be continually throwing huge challenges in her path but she continued on to an even more eventful life so if you'd like to explore more I'd strongly suggest checking out the book at your own local library. 

The story really got me thinking about how in today's world we get so wrapped up in 'things' and comforts that we forget the simple things in life. And how Lily's story isn't that far off from our own in today's economy and her living through the great depression. Lines in the book like 'yes I know there are maggots in that meat but there is MEAT in those maggots!' make you stop and think how when times get truly tough, we do what we must. Even when it's something we normally thought we would never be capable of. Because survival is strong in us. It is innate. And it is who I am. I just get scared sometimes thinking about just how rough it can get. But that's the point. You gotta just stop thinking too far ahead, keep moving forward, take it as it comes but remind yourself how much you love life and the things that make it rewarding. And I don't mean monetarily. Long Live Frugality!