The generation that lived through the Great Depression is nearly gone.

My great grandmother was a child then. I remember playing in her closet of recycled plastic containers when I was little. She and 120 million other Americans became savers, reusers, and recyclers to survive.

In America in the 1930s, more than 20% of families had no job to pay their mortgage or afford basic needs. Those that still had jobs had gross cuts in pay. Meals were meager and irregular. Basics like powdered milk, dried beans, and potatoes were the bulk of many people’s diet. Fruit was a luxury. In cities, even water was often unavailable. The pleasures of eating, drinking, and working were in small portions back then.

The poverty of the Great Depression is a picture in history books for most of us. But the reality is that much of the world’s population lives in similar poverty today. Much of the world has been given a small portion. Perhaps we, too, have held our own little plate. Sickness, job loss, and transitions can give us a taste of real poverty.

However, when we have little, sometimes we can get a larger view of how great our blessings really are, how much we are provided for, how long our thank-you list truly is.