Not much has changed--other than our datebooks and calendars. I'm bracing for change, though, lots of them. This month my entire lifetime of memorabilia and collection of bric-a-brac and furniture will be sold or given away. No longer will I have as far to walk to my kitchen or bedroom. My 42-inch flat screen will move closer toward me. No longer will I do laundry in the garage; my washer and dryer are stacked quite neatly in my new bathroom. I won't spend money on gasoline to visit my daughter because her door is ten-feet away from mine. Haylee and Kinsey can pop in for a back-rub and hug anytime they want. It may be quite interesting as we all adjust to the close proximity of one another's life. I can't say I'm totally concern-free. After all, we each have our own habits and will have to accomodate those of others. But then again, doesn't everyone?
Unless we're hermits, we each live within the space of another. We must each make compromises, allowances and concessions for the way others are, how they think, the way they mix with us in our space. Otherwise we'd be like stone statues--totally inflexible. A friend of mine, who's facing a pretty rough time right now, recently wrote she was "just going with the flow". Sometimes in life, all we can do is go with the flow. Other times we need to be the boulder in the stream that changes the course of things. Personally, I think our country is at one of those times. We need some courageous folks with backbones to stand and be counted for the necessary changes to redirect the course of our nation. Current leaders have been going with the flow and following the same course of action for far too long. Someone needs to toss a few boulders in that stream and stop the flow, build a dam, then station monitors to release the flow only when necessary. And "necessary" does not mean whims, foolishness, and handouts for those who are able to work for their educations, save for their homes, and finance their own habits. Some folks think they are entitled to everything that makes everyone in the world happy by right of citizenship. In America we are only guaranteed the right to pursue happiness. If we all got our happy-thoughts met by the government, then we'd all be on permanent vacation and taking electives in school. Life is not a sun-filled sky. It comes with clouds, storms, deluge, drought...and responsibility.
If people continue standing with their hands out, who will turn the cranks, run conveyors, drive the tractors, plant the fields, pick the fruit, and haul the veggies? America has produced a spoiled generation. When my dad retired from the multiple jobs he held, he received a pension and social security to help curb his expenses as he aged. My husband, I, and my children helped pad his social security check and medicare supplements as we made FICA payments from our earnings. I do not regret that portion of my check being stashed away for my dad and my husband's parents. I knew one day, it would be my turn to benefit from what my children and grandchildren did for me. Yet, now, it seems the senior citizens are the bad guys. The leaches of society. The useless and obsolete. I do wonder what they'll do when they reach senior status. You can't have it all now and pay later at our age. Things just don't work that way. America hasn't changed that much.
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