Thoughts
I don't why, but I was thinking about being a kid last night.
I always thought we were middle class (I've mentioned this before). When I said this to Mom a few years ago, she started laughing and said we absolutely were not.
In those days, female teachers were either married or single. The pay reflected that. It was low, because no one conceived of a divorced woman raising two kids, like Mom. Money was very, very tight.
Her genius, though, was that even though we probably qualified as poor, she never let us feel like it. There's a kind of security in knowing that you have what you need, and I always felt that way. I didn't feel like I was missing out.
I still remember going over to my friend's houses (particularly in East Cliff, which was the "fancy" side of town) and being amazed at the stuff they had. They had so many things they didn't need.
That's a fundamental difference in lifestyle, I think, moving from having what you need to having what you don't need.
I moved into the "don't need" life for years after I made some money. It seemed like I should want to buy material things, and so I did.
You get older, though, and realize you don't need those things, and then you reach a point where you don't want to have things you don't need anymore.
I've reached that point, finally, though much later than many people. It's a relief, really.
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