Your life

[Giselle]

Ohhh, it's just the economy. After every depression, there is a moment of rebuilding, of potential "wisdom" and learning.




...But we all know by now that humanity as a whole is simply incapable of learning. Foresight? Hindsight? What are those? Smile, nod your head, and say, "C'est la vie!" I've become quite misanthropic, lol..

[Lady's Human]

Just a thought.....

but maybe if people hadn't allowed themselve to be conned into mortgages they couldn't afford there wouldn't be so many foreclosures?

As to whether I'm better off now than I was 5 years ago? Absolutely. I have 2 wonderful children, a house in the country surrounded by farmland and forests, and a job I enjoy. Add to that things that were already there prior to that (wife, family, a knuckleheaded dog), I can't complain.

[Medusa]

I'm better off in some ways, not so much in others. After my divorce, I rented for 10 years and was beginning to think that I would never be able to afford a home of my own. I finally was able to purchase one 3 1/2 years ago and have been putting every extra penny into updates and repairs. So my life has improved in that way. However, I've lost a lot of friends in the last few years and that's very sad for me. It's scary to think that the economy is so shaky and that many of us could lose what we've worked so hard to obtain. Speculators in the housing market took a risk but people who truly only desired their "40 acres and mule" and now stand to lose it have my compassion. What affects one affects us all, whether we admit to it or not.

[Alysser]

I am much better off. I was around 10 years old five years ago. I'm now fifteen. I've matured alot more, I am doing something that will help me alot in the future by being in the FFA program at school, I have a job I enjoy, and I care about things going on around me. In 5 years, I will be in college and hopefully working with the tigers at Six Flags. I like my job now, but working with animals, especially tigers, is way better.

[4 Dog Mother]

That is a very hard question for me. Five years ago, my son was alive and Carl and I both had better jobs. I loved my job and of course, we both loved our son.

Now we have two beautiful grandchildren. We are getting to spend time with them that we never expected to have. They know us and we know them far better than most grandparents. As far as jobs, we are both making considerablly less than we were. Carl's plant closed and he lost his job of 26 years. My job was eliminated and I lost mine of 16. So economically we are far worse off especially with the price of everything going up.


If we could keep the grandchildren, I would do anything to go back five years. Sometimes I think I would even bargain with the devil if I could have my son back!

[Medusa]

Sometimes I think I would even bargain with the devil if I could have my son back!

My heart ached when I read this. It brings to mind a line from one of Bonnie Raitt's song: "Sometimes there's lots more broken than anyone can really see". I'm sorry that your son's physical presence is no longer w/you but, of course, you know that he's always w/you in spirit. You must be an incredibly strong person to be able to even write about it here on this forum. I'm not so sure I could be as courageous as you in the same circumstances.

[binka_nugget]

5 Years ago I was just entering grade 11. I just had Kai at the time.. other than that, I didn't have much else going for me. I didn't work and my school marks were mediocre (at best).

My current job is the highest paying job I've had so far. I'm adding additional income with a part-time job as well. I've explored dog training professionally and have been blessed to have paying clients, though I'm not sure if it's for me anymore. I was engaged (to the wrong man); That stung immediately afterwards but I'm SO glad I'm not with him anymore. I haven't seen many of my friends in a long time due to my work schedule and their school schedules.. sadly we're not as close as we used to be. It's expected that people drift when they enter the work force or university... so that wasn't a real shocker.

All in all, I'm quite happy with where I am right now. The only real downer in my life is how much I hate my job.. but it pays the bills so I can't really complain.