My grandpa in his office. First one to leave the village and go to school. Graduated with a degree in Chemistry.
I <think> this is my great grandma. IF it's my great grandma, the stories my grandpa told about her are incredible. My grandpa was already the most frugal person I've ever known or heard of, and he spoke of this grandma as being impossibly frugal and living on nothing so the kids could have food. To hear someone so frugal speak so strongly about another person being so frugal, I cannot begin to imagine what this great grandma went through.
One example story, he explained how they only got a few rations of rice and food a day, she would prepare them for the kids, and then she would go pick through the corn cobs and husks that were delivered to feed the pigs, to find something for herself to eat.
My dad told me years ago that one of his strongest memories of my great grandpa, her husband, was watching him use a knife to cut layers of callus off the bottoms of his feet, and being amazed how thick the callus was that was being cut off.
Grandpa various places. Grandpa and grandma bottom left. He's been gone some years. She is still here but mentally quite degraded. I miss them both so much.
There is so much I wish I knew about their lives, and so much hardship that I have no way to remotely put into perspective. I so dearly wish I had someone to explain more of these albums to me now.