Long Islanders Who Have Seen It A Lot Worse

By Doug Geed

   "Back then we saved money for what we wanted. Now, they just go out and buy it and worry about paying for it later."

   Those words were spoken by Anthony LoMonaco who looks no where near his age of 97. He was one of five senior citizens from Franklin Square who I sat down with this afternoon. The idea was to hear from people who lived through the Great Depression to get their thoughts on the current recession.

  All were unanimous in believing that people today don't respect the value of a dollar like they did years ago and how that helped cause today's mess. "Now it's like we can buy anything and everything and don't worry about it," is how 87-year-old Bill Lerstad put it -- an almost eerily accurate account of the housing crisis in which people bought houses that were much more expensive than they could afford.

     Dottie Aversano says her family didn't have it too bad. Her grandfather owned a fish market in Brooklyn, so they had regular access to food during the Depression. But she says nothing went to waste. Her mother became an expert at cooking every part of the fish -- the head, the tail, even the guts.

 At 80, Vivian Horn was the youngster in the group I chatted with, but she remembers her sister telling her about how much money their father lost in the Depression and how he almost had a nervous breakdown.

    Anthony's family moved to Brooklyn from Sicily in 1920 -- their father died in 1925. During the Depression, he (just like his brothers) had to quit school at 15 to earn money for the family. Anthony made 5 dollars a week -- and was proud of it.

    Bill remembers taking walks up 5th Avenue and being amazed at all the World War One veterans selling apples for 2 or 3 cents each just to scrounge up enough money to feed themselves.

    All of them said they were worried and at times scared. But still, this was their childhood and even though times were about the toughest this country has ever seen, they still manage some good memories. Families were close -- you relied on each other to get through everything. You tried to find laughter in just about anything. Thinking too much about your predicament was too depressing.

 

They also all share concerns about today. They lost thousands of dollars in investments because of the current recession. They have children and grandchildren who lost jobs or are simply having trouble making ends meet.

   But all of them believe it will get worse before getting better. And their advice for getting through it? Well, nobody had a secret formula.
    "Just take each day as it comes" says Dottie.
    And from Mary "We just have to follow through and hope that everything will reverse itself and we'll get back on track."
     Bill wants to remind everyone to be careful with their money and just don't spend it because you feel like spending it.

    For anyone who ever questions why history is important, I wish they were in that living room in Franklin Square where I met these 5 people. They lived through a crisis -- a crisis that we hope will never be equaled in severity as the one we're in now.
    Things will get better. I really believe that. After all, Anthony, Vivian, Mary, Bill and Dottie are living proof.

   

Comments

[John]

One common thread that I see in each of their stories, which makes me worry a bit about today, is that many people had an understanding of supply lines (where did the apples come from? The fish?) and ran at least simple businesses that used what was around.

If all the truckers went out of business tomorrow, would many of us, today, know where to get food? Would we be smart enough to make a profit helping other people get what they needed without hurting them? The people who can are the people who are going to pull all of us through.