Ellen has a normal upbringing by anyone standards. She was born in a farm town in New York, when she was a teen her family moved to Pennsylvania and when she married she moved to Virginia. What makes her life different are the details the surround her existence thus far. She may have grown up on a farm, but she grew up with parents who had lived during the Great Depression. Meaning that every scrap of food was measured, new clothing was rare and sometimes the things we view as necessities now, weren 't so in their household. Even though her parents loved her and her four other siblings, they were emotionally distant at times and sadly, alcoholics. …show more content…
What Ellen didn’t realize is that in the years to come, she will live through some of the worst things in her life. As a young adult, Ellen suffered from brutal teasing about facial acne that was genetic and out of her control. Eventually, the teasing would force her out of high school without her degree. Not long after, she would be out with friends walking to the local hangouts and be hit by a vehicle. Ellen stayed for months being told that she would be lucky to walk again and that she would never have a healthy pregnancy. A few years later, after she had proven the doctors wrong and had recovered most, if not all, of her mobility, she met the man who was going to be her husband. They married when she was eighteen, despite him not being favored by her