Hi again dianrib .... I was just re-reading some of the older posts (old memory needs jogging!) and I re-read this one about you and your husband and how hard you worked and saved. Yes, there's a lot about things today, both nationally and internationally, that are very disconcerting. So, now I watch the news only in the AM for about 30 min. and the rest of the day they all repeat the same thing over and over and over. I think I'd probably jump out of my skin if I heard all that all day. No, things aren't the same as when we were kids ... that's for sure. I often wonder what it will be like when my grandkids are adults (I'm 74). My financial history has me in the same boat you're in only it happened differently. My father died and left me a substantial inheritance. On the advice of a friend, I placed it all with an Investment Counselor, who apparently was "less than honest." He was running some sort of a ponzi scheme, and well .... you guessed it, my investments began to plummet. Fortunately, I caught it before it hit "0" but there's not a lot left. Yes, I worry about it, some days more than others, but I know my kids won't let me starve. There's a lot of things about our government that I find problematic also, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Yes, there's crooked people working in every large company, corporation, and the government. That's where it usually affects us the most and is most visible to anyone who reads, listens to the news, or is in touch with things going on around them.
Life is tough, and some days I just am fighting mad, other days I'm so far in the dumps that I can't see over the edge, but it is what it is .... I can only do my little portion, and the rest I just have to leave up to God (or depending on your faith, your "higher power.")
What I can't change, I just have to learn to live with.
Take care of yourself my friend,
abby