Our next PBTCA meeting will be on Monday, December 15, at St. Theresa’s cafeteria. We will not have meetings during January and February 2009, due to possible cold and inclement weather. So come and join us for our December Christmas meeting. Our guests will be the Carotenuto family. Refreshments at 7 p.m. followed by our Christmas holiday meeting.
With so much gloom in the media, let us join together and have faith in our great country. My generation was raised by parents who survived the great depression. We were taught to live within our means. Our parents knew how to stretch a dollar. They were way ahead of today’s organic trend. The vegetable man and his truck drove by our homes everyday with fresh fruits and vegetables. No preservatives in our food. Our mothers created the most wonderful meals that would be the envy of today’s greatest chef’s. Our mothers made many of our clothes and even mended the holes in our socks. Our dads worked very long hours to feed their families. Sundays were for Mass, visiting aunts, uncles, cousins. We sang, danced, played together, the men played cards. There was wonderful respect and love for families.
We’ve come a long way, but somehow, along the way, we lost something. Was it the television commercials that made us want “things” we really didn’t need?” The credit cards made it easy to buy “things” and soon we were living beyond our means. The ultimate insult was the banks encouraging people to buy homes way beyond their means. No down payment, no credit check, pay only the interest. Were we all asleep?
Our parents frugally saved hard earned money for a down payment to buy a home. Life was hard, but they managed and survived. We, their children also survived. We never felt deprived. When we earned our very first check, we proudly gave it to our parents. We have wonderful memories of our parents who taught us great values. Perhaps, today’s generation will now also learn how to stretch a dollar and live within their means.
We have lived through too many wars. My dad used to say. “If there are only two people left on earth, they will be trying to kill each other.” I wish he was wrong. We have been blessed with the most beautiful planet, Earth. Our planet supplies us with food, water, sun, moon, stars. Every need of the human race is here for all of us. Hopefully, at this wonderful Christmas season, we can all come together and appreciate so much that we are all blessed with. In times of need, the human race does come together, and helps one another. We were all born from great survivors and we have inherited a lot of their great traits. Let us pass what we learned from our parents, onto our children and grandchildren.
May we all be blessed with good health, peace, joy and laughter. Join us at our December 15, meeting and bring your friends and neighbors. Together, we can and we will preserve our communities and our quality of life.
