Lessons From The Greatest Generation

This photo of my father and his family was taken in Brownsville, Texas just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Their facial expressions tell you what they were feeling; the news was grim, and they knew hard days were ahead, but they stood together and mustered some smiles. My uncles would all go on to serve in the war; my Aunt Consuelo left home to work at Standard Oil in California when most of the male employees went off to fight; and I believe my Grandmother was actively involved in serving food to the community (I remember stories about the massive amounts of tortillas she made.)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Growing up, I was lucky enough to spend a good deal of time with the DeLaunays as well as my mother's family in Germany. They'd lived through two world wars (and Germany's painful recovery after each of those wars) not to mention the Great Depression. They taught me a lot about being resourceful, counting my blessings, making do and wasting not. Those lessons have served me well and inspire my sustainable design practices.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But today what I'm especially grateful for, in these very uncertain times, is their example of staying strong, doing their part for the greater good, calling on a supply of grit and determination that they perhaps didn't even know they had until the times required it.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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They pulled through to brighter days, and we will, too. Please take every precaution, stay strong, and stay home to save lives. --Patricia