Why Personal History Matters
Ellis and Lucille had picked the worst possible time to marry and start a family. They had also picked the worst possible place. They were dry land wheat farmers in Eastern Colorado and had started all these endeavors just before the beginning of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. They lost the farm, moved into the nearby town of Wray, Colorado and Ellis began hiring himself out as a day-laborer. Lucille was pregnant with their fourth child when Ellis found regular work helping to unload box cars at the railroad yard. That was where the accident happened. Ellis was working a pulley when the rope broke and the metal chassis of a car came down on him, breaking his back. He would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The family lived hand to mouth for years. Slowly (I can not imagine how slowly) Ellis started a knife sharpening business in his garage. Lucille opened a flower shop out of the front room of ...