{ A Grandmother's Foretelling }

For the last several years, every Saturday morning I call my grandmother...sometimes, perhaps, earlier than she would prefer but I rarely miss a weekend chat. Today's conversation inevitably turned to the recent state of affairs in our respective towns. She shared the stores that are closing up, I did as well. We discussed the growing rate of unemployed persons in each of our states. And collectively we agreed that we haven't seen the bottom yet...it will most likely get much worse before it gets better. But then my grandmother shared her true fears and I knew it was something to pay attention to because she gets a sound in her voice and her tenor changes. She said, "you know, I am so afraid that you kids (meaning my generation) just don't understand what it is that we lived through (meaning the depression). You think this is a recession but really, it's nothing yet. It can get so much worse." I was silent for a long moment, letting the textbook and documentary images of the 1930's roll through my head. More than pictures, I recalled the stories of her being a child and moving from place to place as her father looked for work and the constant uncertainty. I realized that is what she was really talking about when she said 'it can get so much worse.'

The other fear she expressed, one that I actually share, is that my generation doesn't truly know what it means to suffer or sacrifice...at least not yet. Many of my age group have gotten into this place of falling back...falling back on credit cards, home equity lines and even their parents. ALL of those lines of credit are drying up and we need to live not just within our means, but below them, so that we are saving for the day when there is no income. We are in a new era and you can choose to adapt or can choose to deny but either way, change is coming.