Why Being Pennsylvania Dutch is Pretty Awesome

How growing up resourceful is making me a better adult.

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My dad’s parents were Pennsylvania Dutch. He was their tenth child and the youngest boy; two more girls were born after him.

Due to their family size and their area, they made do with what they had available. But this is also a distinctive attribution of the Pennsylvania Dutch culture.

As a child, I often heard an old Pennsylvania Dutch saying:

“Use it up. Wear it out. Eat it all.”

It illustrates the culture’s frugality but also their ingenuity. These sensibilities were prevalent in my upbringing and continue to attribute to my adult life.

Use it Up

DIY is my dad’s forte. He is Mr. Fix-It. My parents bought an old general store in 1979 for practically nothing and made it into a home. I essentially grew up in a continual construction zone, but I learned so much from observing and occasionally helping.

My dad was a high school teacher, so he had summers to choose a room or two to reconstruct. There isn’t one room in their house that he hasn’t played a part in redoing.

He has completed some fantastic feats too. The floating stairs off a stone wall were both a challenge and triumph…