When I was young, I had little to nothing and there were no complications. I worked, got paid in cash, had no savings account, no checking account, no credit card. I lived at home, no rent, no utilities to pay, nothing to worry about. Mom and dad never charged anyone they housed for rent. When I acquired a car my pay was spent on the car and going on dates with the young ladies. My outlook was, if I got from one week to the next with a few dollars in my pocket, I was doing well.
When Joyce and I got married, we didn’t have a checking account or a savings account. We bought our wedding rings at the navy exchange. Hers cost $8, mine was $10. We set up housekeeping; I cashed my navy paycheck and we survived on that and there was never any money left to have a savings account, but we got by on navy pay and a lot of good loving! We lived on a meager income. Things were not complicated at all. We never had any extra money until I reenlisted in 1968. That was our first nest egg. I left the navy in 1974 and we went back to Missouri. Our funds dwindled down to nothing. We had to sell everything we owned to make a trip to California and jumpstart our lives again.
We both got jobs there and were making some money for a change. It was Joyce that changed our lives by managing our funds. I was never good with that. Joyce handled everything throughout the following years. After she had her first aneurysm and lost nearly all of her vision, she could still direct me with what to do. I was like a monkey following directions, so things still went well. Joyce has passed away and now everything financially falls on me. I had a good mentor with Joyce, but never realized how complicated finances are these days. My head hurts with all of the payments for rent, utilities, a credit card, a banking account. I Should've paid more attention while Joyce was still here, but I thought I would die before her and she would be the one left. I never wanted to live without her and yet she has passed and I am still here trying to exist in an ever more complex world that seems to change every day. I’m doing well enough with everything, but things are more complicated than I care for these days. I long for the simpler times. I'd give everything I have to start over from the night I met Joyce and begin my life from that night.
Yes, bring back the simple times. It's way too hard today.
ReplyDeleteIt troubles me to say this, but older people like me have a reluctance to the rapid changes of today, while younger people take new things, changes, with a grain of salt and it doesn't bother them. I was never one for change, but the world stops spinning for no man.
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