You know she means what she says when her first words are, “I am a child of God.” Aurella Swanson, unlike her banker, who committed suicide after his branch went bankrupt, had God in her life.

But her having a strong faith in her life does not mean she had a strong family income. 

One of Swanson’s problems in her life was not being able to afford a coat for school, but she adapted to her family’s financial troubles. Her mother, instead of worrying about saving money for a coat, made her a coat out of buffalo fur.

Growing up in the bitter cold Wisconsin “We were not a wealthy family, but we didn’t lack for anything,” she said.

With no money to spare, Swanson’s family depended on their farm for supplies they needed, like meat. There were no attachments to animals when it came to food.

  “There was no such thing as ‘This is my pet — I can’t eat him,’” Swanson said.

She admitted it was difficult running the farm. One of her jobs, that her siblings dragged her todo at the age of 4, was feeding the chickens. She even joked about some farming struggles by saying, “I learned how to milk a cow on a one legged stool.” 

A diversion at home was having a competition playing a card game called sheep head. The one with the most points received a spoon full of fudge as a reward.

There was not much to do on the farm for leisure besides playing cards, so her family would go to town as a once a week affair.

“The biggest thing I remember was going to the grocery store,” said Swanson, recalling on the way home that they would get an ice cream cone to end their day.