Candy and a Change of Heart

I've always made a lot of candy during the holidays and divinity is my favorite.  I don't do that anymore and last year daughter decided to try her hand at making divinity and I would say she was successful.

My second favorite is date roll candy. I've already placed my order for her to make me some of that.

Bob makes two kinds of candy, toffee and Martha Washington. He's itching to make some but I've forbidden him to do that before Christmas week. We do not need candy in this house for weeks on end.

Daughter will be flying in from Texas on Wednesday and plans to make candy here rather than trying to pack and fly with it. Her daddy is very excited about making candy with her. I'm very excited about eating it.
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I'm doing some serious soul searching. Bob's twin brother died about 18 months ago and I swore after his death we would never give another dime to his wife, never. We've been in the family together 54 years and talk almost daily. I have done a few things for her but never money. I think she's hit bottom and though I believe she's responsible for the financial mess she's in I am beginning to soften. Perhaps she's a product of her roots, perhaps she couldn't do any better. Do I believe that, no. It's better if I don't think too much about it. In spite of all her mistakes it's sad to come to the last years of your life paying rent on an apartment and trying to live on $1,600 a month. That's tight, especially since she owns a car.

This morning I talked to Bob about her situation. We're in agreement on helping her, but is money the best option? We will send a Christmas check this week but it won't be as much as we'd like it to be, but all we dare send at one time.

She suffers from osteoporosis that causes great pain in her back and hip. I sent her a cane, a lumbar cushion, a lower back shaped heating pad, and a back shaped ice pack. That seemed a reasonable thing to do. Before Bob's brother died I tried to work it out with their pharmacy for us to be responsible for paying for their prescriptions but they didn't have a way to set that up and his brother died a few days later. I need to visit that idea again. Paying for her medicine might be a way for us to help.

Families are complicated. I love her dearly but I sure don't trust her with money.

You May Be Rich

Occasionally I'm directed to a blog where I find something interesting. I hope you'll take a little time now and read What Does It Mean to Be Rich?

I felt so fortunate after reading it I relaxed the grip I had on some dollars and purchased myself a new Mac laptop just because I could.

I found this statement interesting, "The great wealth divide seems to be not between the billionaires and the rest of us but between those who have retirement savings and those who do not."

I'm troubled by the number of retired people having financial struggles. I had no idea the percentages were that high and I have no idea how to fix their situation.

I urge you to read the highlighted link and think about it.