1968, I was 8 years old, # 4 of six kids.
My Dad had a good job, however, things were tough with 6 kids, so, having 2 brothers, 6 and 8 years older, (1 older, and 2 younger Sisters) hand me downs did not fit so well!
(remember newspaper balled up in the toes?)
My Mom got a job at a textile plant, seamstress, (she could always sew) that year for $1.60 per hour, min. wage then.
I remember the 2 mile walk to town, we went to a 'fancy shoe store' and She bought me my first ever new shoes, $28.00! ($192.00 in todays money)
I told her I did not like them, they hurt my feet, (not true) Mom insisted I get them, I was 8 but I knew when something cost too much. I was not ever spoiled, She wanted me to have them no matter how much I said No.
God Bless Her.
Passed this March at 79.
Heck with the picky rules, "Mom, page two is yours"!

Cool story about my parents?

My dad dropped this gem on me, at 31 years old:

Mom and Dad met and married.  Mom like to party before, never stopped after getting married.  Dad followed her one night and caught her with an old high school boyfriend.  Left the next day for a business trip for a few days, and while away, decided he was done and was going to pack the rest of his stuff when he returned.

She met him at the airport, by surprise, and told him she was pregnant (with my older brother).  He doesn't leave her, brother is born 9 months later, and then they moved out of state.  Stuck with it, and had me and my sister after that.  Divorced 10 years later.

My sister and I look a lot alike.  My brother doesn't look like any of us.

Go figure.

That's a good mom.

 

My brother would bring home the strays. These were his classmates who didn't want to go home or hated their domestic setting.  They always felt safe and welcomed at our home and years later one of them called my mother (my father crossed the Styx by then) to thank her (and my father) for being there for them.

There is no single story that covers Mom. Simply she was there to wipe every tear, patch every skinned knee and elbow, fixed every meal,
she made sure you had clean clothes, and made every christmas a jaw dropper. I could not have asked for a better Mom. She has been a rock for us

Dad had a great sense of humor, his one liners were the best. He was a jack of all trades, loved the outdoors and instilled a love for it in me.
He was a great Police Officer and Detective, and a straight shooter.  
Sadly, he was gone way to soon, just 44 when he passed. I am now three years older than my Dad was when he passed.
When I hit 37 I realized I had lived more than half of my life without him which was so odd.  
RIP Dad.

A story while out driving with Dad. Dad was an undercover Detective who did organized crime. We were riding in his undercover police car one day, a black
Lincoln Towncar when we passed a house. Dad said see that house, what do you notice about it. I said it has no trees, bushes or fences. He said exactly,
it was the home of a cocaine dealer and he removed them all so no one could sneak up to his home. He said see this car we are in, it use to be the guy
who owned that home untl we arrested him and confiscated it. My dad just smiled.

My father was orphaned at 5 and taken in by an elderly couple who were completely unrelated but felt it their Christian duty to care for him.
They raised him with a respect for a strong work ethic
My mother was raised by a single mom picking crops in the fields.
She left home at an early age to live with friends so she could put herself though some form of technical school so she could improve her lot in life.
They met purely by accident; he had a date or some other thing out of town and for some reason I can't recall had to stay in town.
He went to church instead that night, my mother had gone with friends and they met at the service
Neither told the other of their own hardships growing up while they were dating
The car with the wedding rings in it was stolen outside the church before the wedding started.
They packed up everything they owned and he put himself through seminary and came back to town with me in tow as an infant, living out of a small travel trailer while he tore down an old military barracks at the old Sampson base to get materials to build the house I grew up in.
He started out doing taxes for various local companies and corporations and quickly realized that you don't get ahead by working for other people.
he went into business for himself and branched out into real estate for over 45 years.
he gave up the tax thing to concentrate on refurbishing old pianos of all things
She passed on a couple of years ago after 52 years together
I am sometimes critical of them, religion in general etc in threads here
Their experiences prove to me that all of the idiots who want to blame all of their personal failures on anyone but themselves is pretty much full of it
They pretty much individually got handed a lousy draft number in life and made something of it despite that.
Probably not what OP was looking for, but oh well

Dad and mom married at age 18, had me at 19 and my two brothers, twins, two years later. Dad worked till he retired in the oilfield, mom stayed home with us. We saw hard work and a loving marriage. I'm almost 43 and they are still in love with each other. Realize now what they sacrificed for our family to keep us in clothes, food and a home. God bless mom and dad.

Maybe writing about it will cheer you up.  Good memories do that for me.

Keep pushing it Bender. I'll knock your dick in the dirt.