I recently was reminded of a time when life was really a struggle. I was a single mom of two little preschool aged boys. Going to school full-time and working. Exhausted at the end of the day. I was one of the many mothers standing in line for free cheese and butter. Food stamps had to be counted out at the check out counter and I could feel the judging eyes on me from the other shoppers in line. I hated being on welfare but I had to feed my babies. At the time I taught preschool and sadly we didn't make a lot of money, no benefits, or retirement. But, I loved being a teacher and working with young children. The rewards were many and if I had to do it again I probably would. Friday's were Mcdonalds day. Every Friday after work we drove through McDonald's for Happy Meals and then it was TGIF on TV for the evening. Snug in my queen size bed we ate our meals, yes we ate in bed. LOL I remember I would be so tired I would begin to nod off only to be woken up by there laughter. Good times. That first Christmas alone I bought a small table top tree but didn't have money for ornaments. What I did have were several Happy Meal toys so I hot glued ribbons to each small toy and we hung them from our tree. The boys spent that particular Christmas with their dad so Christmas morning I woke up alone. The silence was strange and unsettling. The connection to McDonalds would come later.