Beth Macy

It wasn't a great environment to grow up in with the exception of my mom and my grandma Macy next door who literally owned our house and kept a roof over our heads.

But, you know, when I talked earlier about the hollowing out of the middle class now, what was different back then is I had these friends whose parents were wonderful to me, who would give me rides home from sports practices and band practices and who would buck me up when I was feeling low.

And also because I had this incredible grandma next door who taught me how to read and write before I went to kindergarten.

I had the confidence when I got to public schools and met these fantastic teachers to know that I might be poorer than the rest of the kids, but they weren't necessarily smarter than me.

And I think that really helped me.

Helen Wellman.

It would be egg salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, and then we'd go back to egg.

And her daughter, Tanya, would take me home for lunch every day.

And every little heartbreak I ever had, Helen was my counselor.

Yeah, I started helping the Kellenberger boys who lived catty corner from me.

They were a couple of years older than me.

And I was like, this is a pretty good gig.

And they'd share their pay with me.

And I loved getting a little bit of pocket money.

And then I always wanted to buy my own clothes because I hated the things like my mom probably couldn't afford nice clothes.

So I

So then I got my own paper route so I could buy my own clothes and I could save up for the field trip to Washington, D.C., which would be my first time crossing state lines.

It was almost like I thought the atmosphere would change as the Greyhound crossed the state line.

And, you know, I just worked for things and I loved working.

And the great thing about growing up in Urbana then, when it had a solid middle class, was