perseverance

Recently Rita and I have had a pretty serious downturn in our business.  We are scrambling to gin up some cash flow.  Hard times seem to be always waiting at our door.  Sometimes scrambling for a couple of bucks can hurt you down the road.  Hard to figure out.
Today I read of a young man from Princeton that did some research into his family, specifically his parents and grandparents.  One of his professors had assumed he was privileged because he was Jewish.  The professor had implied he could not have anything to say to minorities because he didn't know their struggle or their lot in life. 
What he found about his grandparents was that his grandmother had survived the Bergen-Gelson death camp in World War II.  She had been forced into hard labor for two or three years, watching her family and friends all be murdered.  She weighed eighty pounds.
His grandfather had escaped to Russia to be confined to their horrid and brutal work camps in Siberia during the war.  When the war ended, they were liberated and traveled to America to start a new life.  Ameica is where his grandparents met.
His grandfather began a wicker basket company, working long hard hours every day to make enough to support them.  He didn't complain about the long hours, the pittance of money he made, the tough conditions they were in, because they had freedom.  They could go to Synagogue without fear.
They raised a family, sent them to school, in the hopes their children would know a better life.
Their son, this young man's father, graduated from community college, got a job with a good company, and made enough money to send his children to a private jewish school.  His father worked long hard hours and was proud of his family.  They never were able to afford a vacation, but they lived reasonably well.
The point of his story was that we should not assume we all know of one anothers troubles, or if their life is easy.  We all have our stories, and we should not assume.
But, a point I got out of this article was, this young man's grandfather spoke of his times of trouble running his wicker basket business.  He said, "I survived Hitler.  Some business problems are going to ruin me?"
This put my business problems all in perspective. We will persevere and survive. Dammit.  David