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Actually, my mother grew up incredibly spoiled. She had a live-in housekeeper AND a cook. Her mother loved to shop and always took her two daughters into the city to Bergdorf Goodman and indulged. In the summers, my grandparents and kids took a train up to Boston, then a car up to Kennebunkport and stayed at The Colony because “owning a house would just mean more staff”. They’d have their trunks sent up in advance because they spent their entire summers there. Yep, my mom grew up during depression era, but wasn’t affected by it.</p>
<p>By contrast, my DH grew up in a completely different environment: first-born immigrants, lived a 2-story house in Newark, NJ. Vacations were a day at the shore, but back home that night. And us now? We could buy expensive things, but prefer not.</p>