When I was born my mother had to take a cab to the hospital to deliver me.
My father shoveled soybeans out of train cars and then worked security at night (for the same company).
They didn't own a car.

He often slept at work in the track switching office because he was simply too tired to WALK home.

When I was 5 I had my first McDonalds hamburger. This was to celebrate my mother becoming a Registered Nurse.

My mother then supported us (my father and I) until my father got his degree in Mechanical Engineering. Then my father went to work for a fortune 500 company, started as a draftsman and finished his career as a Vice President. He left that company at age 45 and started a business out of his garage. A business that one decade later employs over 100 people in ten states and is a multi million dollar company.

So rags to riches.. sure.. But I promise you if they didn't have to work for it, they never would have amounted to shit.

I on the other hand was lucky in that I was able to see both sides before leaving home for good.