I grew up in a very small town (pop 2500) in central Illinois. We lived a very simple life--we were poor, but I always had a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and clean clothes. We had two cars (only because both my parents worked) and my parents bought their first house when I was 8 years old. We went out to eat one night a week--Friday night. On the weekends, we'd usually go to my uncle's house. The grownups would play penny ante poker, and the kids would just play--mostly outside, unless it was raining. I remember playing outside...in the dark...and, I'm sure none of the parents worried about any of us getting kidnapped. We'd make the trip to my grandmother's house in Missouri a couple times a year. She lived out in the middle of nowhere, and we had the best time exploring the timber behind her house, swimming in her little pond, playing with my cousins. It was a very simple life and a very good life. We were happy! We didn't have much, but we had the basics....food, clothes, housing, family. The basics...I think people need to get back to that...to realizing that the important things in life are not what you drive, who you know, where you work, how much you make, whose name is on your clothes, how expensive your house, purse and/or shoes are. People live in gross excess these days, not realizing that how many "things" you have is not what's going to make you happy. I work at the Department of Public Social Services and have seen first-hand how screwed up people's priorities are. One family I dealt with had a brand new SUV, a newer model car, a huge, new house, two ATVs, and a boat. Their bank account statement showed several withdrawals of several hundred dollars at area casinos. But, they didn't have health insurance for their children because "we can't afford it." What's wrong with this picture? How did we get so far away from what's really important? You read article after article about how many obese children there are today. Gee...I wonder why? When I was a kid, we didn't sit around all day watching TV or playing video games (or board games back then). We were outside playing baseball, riding our bikes, swimming, exploring our world. Our moms cooked good meals for us that didn't come out of a can or box. My mom worked full-time, but still cooked at night. She never said, "I'm too tired to cook." We had a huge garden, and the vegetables we ate were either fresh from the garden or home-canned by my mother. My parents didn't ask us to help around the house, we just did it! We all worked together to clean the house, cook the meals, and take care of the yard and garden. We didn't hire housekeepers, gardeners, plumbers, carpenters, etc. My dad fixed the things that broke around the house and car. If he didn't know how to fix it, his brother, brother-in-law, or someone else in the family would. Because that's what families did back then. That's how we lived. We didn't do anything needlessly. My dad didn't hunt or fish for sport--he hunted and fished to put food on our table. People are amazed when I talk about all of the things I do on my own. I mow my own yard, have a vegetable garden, fix the things that break around my house (except electrical...that's a little out of my league). I've done all my own painting, installed new faucets, installed wood floors, landscaped my yard, clean my house...and I work full-time. WAKE UP PEOPLE!! Think about what's really important. Teach your children what's really important. Think about what you're doing to your family and your world, and think about how to change it. It's not too late. What's the legacy you want to leave behind? Think about it.