I don't know who took this photo on a street in Washington, D.C in the spring of 1931, but the smiling six-year-old on the right is my father. The depression hit his family hard, with neither of his parents having much of an education to equip them for finding well-paying work. Partially out of financial necessity and partially because it would be a fun thing to do, my father Howie and his sister Elsie (center), the two youngest children in the family, were sent to spend some time with Uncle Gus Karless, who lived in Washington.

Gus had been a veteran of World War One and had been a mustard gas survivor during it. His war injuries disabled him for regular physical work, so he received a government pension, which meant he had an income, to buy food and necessities, despite the depression.

The other two people are my father's Aunt Frances and (kneeling) Herbert Einhorn, a cousin of my father's. My father recalls this visit as a very happy time, and from this picture, it looks like it was indeed a happy time for all of them.