Growing up in the early 1900s during the Depression, and being the oldest of eight children, was hard. We were poor and had very little materially, but everyone who lived around us in the little town of Calico Rock, Arkansas, was just like us. The Thompson family was a fun-loving, hardworking family who knew what sadness and determination were all about. I learned early that to get along in this world you have to be strong willed; being stubborn doesn’t hurt either!
