My great-grandfather George Livesey moved his family from the east to Arkansas back in the 1800's.  He took a job as a bookkeeper with a local firm, and found that the owner had been embezzling funds to keep from paying taxes.  He reported it.

The result was that the owner said that George was the one who was doing it.  Even though it had been going on before George took the job.  But the man was an "Upstanding" member of the community. 

George was convicted, sent to Little Rock state prison, and died there, leaving my great-grandmother Sarah with five children and no means of support.  Sarah died within a couple of years--leaving five orphans. 

The eldest, Laura, married and raised my grandmother Georgia and the youngest in the family, baby Jimmy.

My grandmother Georgia, married my grandfather Ozie just one month shy of fifteen.  She had an 8th grade education.  Ozie a 2nd.  They had five children, sent all of them to college--all of their children were very successful.  So when I hear hard luck stories, because you can't have this, or that--it's hard to sympathize because of the heritage I have. Gran and Ozie had nothing. They never complained.  They just did what they had to do. And made sure the next generation had better opportunities than they did.  My grandmother Georgia was my ideal woman.