Retirement…Who Knows?

As I get closer to retirement from military service I have become concerned about the future.  I have 5 more years before my youngest son will enter college and then the real expense will begin.  I hear in the news financial analyst say it will take years for the US economy to recover.

It was during President Carter’s administration during the late 1970s when gas was so expensive that my family fell on bad times.  We lived 10 miles from the nearest town and the high price of gas took what little money my father made. 

During this time we sat together at the dinning room table and had only purple-hull peas and cornbread to eat.  We were grateful for this but having it day-after-day for lunch and dinner became monotonous.  After that bad year I would not eat them for years to come.  One early morning I remember seeing  Mother at the table with her chin resting in her hand, and the worry in her face as she stared off into the distance.  I knew she was wondering how she would get through the day.

I greatly admire her for her strength not only in getting us through those lean years but her putting others first.  She placed my father first before his passing after an 8+ year fight with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  

Though the future may look foreboding remembering back to the hardships that my family endured gives me strength to move forward.  I want to thank my Mother and my Father who taught me and my two younger brothers to have faith in God and trust that he will see you through.