Made in Heaven

On February 14, my husband and I celebrated 25 years together. I clearly remember the time when I considered a 22-year-old to be "too old," and now I myself have been married for 25 years! But this is not the point - I really don't mind my age, I find it rather liberating as the pressure to look good subsided considerably. Who would look at an old lady anyway to appreciate her "looks"? Anyway, I am only mentioning this because I didn't want to get married in the first place. My future husband cajoled me into marrying him, and I never even took his last name thinking that the marriage wouldn't last after he realizes what hell living with me was like. He proved to be tougher than I thought, and I think that marrying him was the best thing that ever happened to me. In fact, I can't believe I got so lucky.

There have been other things in my life when what I first saw as a blow proved to be a blessing in disguise. When our daughter dropped out of a university after just one semester, I thought it was a terrible mistake. I was at a loss how to handle her decision. Think of it: with my two Masters Degrees I am the least educated member of the family. Every grandparent of my kids has a Ph.D., even her great grandparents taught college. So she was going to be the first ever family member who WOULD NOT go to college. She found a full-time job and worked for about 2.5 years before the Greatest Recession started at which time her job was eliminated, and she was laid off. Again, to both her and me it appeared as bad luck. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because having struggled to find another job in this economy without any education beyond high school, my daughter suddenly decided that she needed and wanted to go back to the school. She is now extremely motivated and driven in her studies, she is on Chancellor's List, and is working towards her B.S. degree in International Business with a goal of going to a law school after that. Oh, she still works part time, too. I am SO GLAD she worked when jobs were still around and went to school when jobs went away - in that order. Had she stayed in school, she would have graduate from it this May. And then what? Unempleyment amoung young people is at 24%. Now she has a few more years before she will be looking for a permanent job.

Likewise, I am sure that this Recession with a capital "R" is going to be eventually beneficial for the country, if only for making us more humble as a nation. I hope we will emerge from it less materialistic, less aggressive, less arrogant, less corrupt. The old system is dying off, and once the maggots are done with clearing out the rotting flesh, a new shiny skin will grow on our wounds.

So I do believe in silver linings and trusting the Providence.

Happy Anniversary, Honey!