In 1929, on my seventh birthday the stock market crashed and changed the course of my life. The Great Depression left my family homeless. We were forced into a nomadic life living in rented rooms and even a tent city. During the course of my life, I have lived in twenty-nine different dwellings in seven states.

During World War II, I worked in a defense factory and was a volunteer in many war-related fundraising activities. When the war ended I married Robert Betts and moved to a suburb of New York City.