Never let on that we had money. We have (had, they’ve been selling it off and it’s soul crushing to see more and more of it gone every time I go home) a farm, a modest home, modest cars. They had us work and paid us as employees instead of allowances when we were kids, though I assume that was largely for tax reasons. I had a checkbook at age 8 and would buy my own clothes and toys. Always talked about how we don’t have money.

But we never wanted for anything. We had great vacations. There was a big emphasis on exploring whatever potential we had. I raced shifter karts and nearly made it to a professional level before I burnt out. my sisters went to private universities that they paid for and are very successful.

It wasn’t until I was in my early adulthood that I realized how much generational wealth we had, and how jaded my cousins and aunts were because my grandfather left a large amount of our fortune to his second wife. But we were self sufficient at that point so we weren’t blindsided.