Thanks for sharing, and Yes! I grew up in a similar situation with a single divorced mom living on food stamps. We lived across the street from the projects. We were pretty poor, but I was not unhappy.
We were not quite so poor as you described, but I remember going to friends house and being amazed at all the nice things they had!
Now, as my name implies I've continually grown my wealth as an adult and I'm on pace to hit my first million (i think)by 2020 with any luck.
Fingers crossed!