[Diva]

Both my parents grew up very poor....children of the depression.

But from the time my Dad got out of the army, he was a banker. Eventually, he was an Executive Vice President for a bank here in Austin when I was in elementary/jr high/high school. We had money, but nobody knew it. And my Mom made all of my clothes.

NOW, I'm very proud of that fact, but when I was in school, I was ashamed of that and was made fun of because my clothes weren't store-bought. "Things" became important to me.

Then I married a man from a family with lots of money, and, for a time, I became one of those snobby rich wives who thought they were better than those people who make their own clothes. When I look back on that time in my life, it makes me nearly sick to my stomach over what I became ~ like my mother-in-law. It disgusts me even as I write this. I'm not proud to admit it.

Well now, I have been without a job for over a year, and, even though I have some money, there are times when I am overdrawn with only rice and a cracker and maybe some applesauce in my cupboards.

But You know what? I am the happiest I have ever been. Pride died a slow death for me, but I sang at the funeral and kissed it goodbye. It's all good.

Granted, I'm 57, and I just really do not GIVE a rat's ass, but that's another thread.....I am rich with friends, a daughter who loves me and a puppy who gives me kisses.