From shore to shore, America if filled with losers. People are losing their jobs, businesses are losing their customers, and families are losing their homes in record numbers. Is there any hint of a silver lining in these dark economic clouds.
Older children are moving back in with their parents. Young couples and older couples are sharing a home with Mom and Dad. They are renting their home because they cannot sell it in this market. They do not want to lose it entirely. So the extended family is under one roof for a time.
My Dad never thought he would share his recreation room with his grandson’s dreadnought acoustic guitar. He thought my fitness equipment needed a cup holder but he was intrigued with my daughter’s kindle reader. My wife is actually baking for the holidays with my Mother. Dad and I are staying up late in his workshop.
The economy accomplished what our hectic schedules had never allowed. Honest quality time with each other. We are playing board games now that used to take up closet space. The kids have learned card games that I thought died out in the era of black and white television. There is bonding that crosses generations.
My parents computer is now being used to organize my Dad’s stamp collection. My mother is working on a family history site and my daughter is actually comparing it to the interest she has in popular forensic shows on television. My Dad bought a used guitar at a garage sale and we have been playing together.
Old relationships are being renewed. My wife and I have been visiting with my parents friends and making new connections. It was through one of my Mom’s friends that my wife found out about a better job opportunity. My Dad and I had lots of talks in the workshop that I was not much interested in as a kid.
He talked to me about the war, about coming home to Mom and starting a family. He told me about his parents passing away when I was very young. He told me that people, especially men always argue about when we become grownups. He told me that he thinks it is when your parents die because until then you are always somebody’s little boy.
It was in those moments that I knew a cold hard fact. As destructive as our economy had become it was also the reason our home and our family had benefited. I also knew I was going to have a terrific trophy fish hanging on the wall before next winter.
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