Hope

Yesterday I spent the afternoon visiting two family members at two different nursing homes. Both have lived through the depression, but both believe this time will be different. Back then people did not have a lot. Some had their own homes, not a lot of clothes, certainly not a car for every family member of driving age and most households only had one income. When I asked how they were able to feed a family of seven I was told they were given rations of food. If there was an extra egg or an extra cup of flour they would share it with a neighbor. Their Church would send a package of used clothes every so often. We have all seen pictures of the long bread lines and wonder if it will come to that again.

This past year we have been fed a constant diet of bad news. With home foreclosures at an all time high, a figure that is expected to reach over three million by the end of this year. Layoffs by the millions (3.6 million to be exact) most of which occured in the last three months and not a lot of options for new ones. It is no wonder that everyone is worried. Even those that did not get laid off are feeling for the ones that did. We all know someone who has or will be. There is a new term called 'job guilt.” This is when you are lucky enough to keep your job but your co-worker (friend) is not.

We could learn from the past and share what we have with a friend or neighbor. We have the capacity to reinvent ourselves and our world. It may not the the world of excess where we continue to spend $40 for every $1 that we have. Maybe we will have to learn to live within our means like our parents did. Maybe we can offer a neighbor an egg, a cup of flour, a friendly hello or a handshake. Maybe, just maybe, we can come together to help out one another. This is 'Neighbors helping neighbors”. This is my hope for our future.

Dorothy Goodwin