When I was about 8 years old my mom was very sick and pregnant with my sister Freda. It was near then end of February and there was over a foot of snow on the ground. There was no food in the house and the root cellar was empty. All of the previous fall’s harvest had been consumed by us and the rats.

We were hungry and cold. My Mom sent my older brother Joe off to hunt for some wildlife. He was gone about and hour. We heard several shots from the woods while he was away. When he returned, he placed a rabbit’s bloody food on the table. My Mom laughed through her tears.
“Boy, why you come home with just the rabbit foot. Now what are we supposed to do with that.”
“He got away and I got cold”, Joe was crushed.
“Well, you can just go back out there and get the rest of him because these chillun need some food.”
Joe picked up Daddy’s old rifle and sauntered out. Again we heard shots from the woods. When Joe returned the second time he had three rabbits thrown over his shoulder. One of them was missing his left rear foot.

My granddaughter forgot that she was hungry and bored because she was filled with laughter. The my brother Joe stories are the funniest.