FAMILY FINANCES

....... 1930s: GREAT DEPRESSION. Parents both very underclass. Mother had 6th grade education. Father had 9th grade education. Lived along East River docks in Brooklyn. _____________ Parents married Oct. 24, 1948 ____________ 1948-1957: UNDERCLASS YEARS. Unlike most poor families there were two differences which helped us rise: 1) My parents only had one child (Most poor families had many) and 2) BOTH my parents worked (In the 50s the mother usually stayed home. (Of course, being alone all the time in such a neighborhhod sure screwed me up)Household income slowly improving. Rising through underclass sub-levels. ___________ 1958: Must have hit LOWER MIDDLE CLASS at last as by Jan 1959 income high enough to look for slightly nicer place to live._____________ 1959-1961: Moved up East River to slightly nicer neighborhood in early February 1959. LOWER MIDDLE CLASS. Rent up from $20/month to $60/month. Income slowly continues to improve.____________________ 1962-1963: Income improving rapidly now due to construction of the 1964 NY World's Fair. FULL MIDDLE CLASS. ________________________ 1964-1965: UPPER MIDDLE CLASS: Family income at height. Highest ever. __________________________ LATE NOVEMBER 1965: Buy rowhouse in York,Pa. Now have TWO residences to pay for simultaneously!______________________ June 1965- June 1966: Mother QUITS good-paying job and moves to York with me. Income now LOWER than 1964 as mother now only has a near-minimum wage job in a dept store. Also still have to pay for two residences. Chances to help me through college now very diminished. REGULAR MIDDLE CLASS. _________________________ Summer 1966 to Summer 1967: Mother returns to NYC to work. Not paid as much as before. I get put in my cousins house in York,Pa for my senior year. parents pay him to take me in. _______________________ From 1965-1968: Father still making good money but not as much as during Worlds Fair. Mother making less than 1964. __________________________ SEPT 1967: I go to college in Midwest. Have to pay OUT-OF-STATE tuition which is 2 1/2 times higher than regular. Pre-loan days! ___________________ LATE NOVEMBER 1968: Father QUITS good-paying job. Both parents move to York,Pa for good. Now both make barely over the minimum-wage!!! All hope to help me through college lost! Dropped to LOWER MIDDLE CLASS. _______________________ January 1969 to January 1970: Have to drop out of college due to both money problems and ulcer. LOWER MIDDLE CLASS and trying to pay out-of-state tuition fees. _______________________ January 1970: return to school. During my absence they raised my tuition an incredible 50%!!!! Forgot a lot of Science and Math by being gone so long. LOWER MIDDLE CLASS plus out-of-state college bills. ___________________ SUMMER 1970: NO money to return. Have to drop out from June 1970 until Late August 1971!!!:: Forgot a lot of science and math and everything else. LOWER MIDDLE CLASS with a son trying to stay in college. _____________________________ LATE AUGUST 1971 to JUNE 1973: Back in college. LOWER MIDDLE CLASS. ______________________ 1973 TOTAL FINANCIAL COLLAPSE OF FAMILY BEGINS: Mother went incurably insane with paranoid schizophrenia in January 1973. Stuck indoors until she died on Nov 30, 1981. Two of us to keep eye on her. Medical bills! ____________________ MAY 1973 to JANUARY 1975: Had to drop out of college and work many jobs plus help father with insane mother plus I had to take some classes at York College. UNDERCLASS!! Heat in house was turned off in 1980 and never has been back on for any winters since. ______________________ JANUARY 1975:University fo Florida, Astronomy/Astrophysics Department, Gainesville, Florida.... UNDER CONSTRUCTION 9-7-99 208pm