Family reunion

Here we all are- the part of the family who came to the February gathering at the ranch. We had all our children and their offspring, aunts, uncles, niece and nephew, sister, in- laws and dog. We had come from a large sit-down dinner with birthday cakes and I made them all sit still for this photo.
Doing this sort of thing is arduous but full of love. Everyone has to have a place to sleep. Some of them just came for the day. As Tolstoy said, happy families are all alike. Well.. maybe. Certainly ours is not dysfunctional. No one shot anyone and there were not even any hard words spoken. We laughed a lot and the young cousins played with each other and the hot tub was full of family. We even managed to have some moments to really hear what these kin had to say.
It seems so strange to me that Andy and I have the role of being the pater/mater familias to this large family. (In my heart I am still ten years old!) But now, as we are approaching seventy, our children still see us as seamlessly able to do anything, pay for anything, maintain a wonderful life in perfect health.
So far so good. Hard to tell them that, as with so many, we too have lost out to the bad economy. The 529's for the grandchildren have shrunk as also have our investments for the rainy day. We worry, and like everyone else in these times, we economise in many ways.
Our children will have to negotiate a pretty different world from the 'enabled' one they were accustomed to. Their kids haven't yet got a clue. They are still honking about the latest electronic thing they want.
When Japan had the economic downturn in the 90's and there was the bad decade, everyone got used to not spending. They are still in this mode. And we in America will do it too. Hey, what have YOU bought recently? Probably not much.
What this has to do with family is that we are in new times. We must talk to each other, trust each other (unless they are bankers!), and help each other out. Mom and Dad might not be the financial rock they once were. Kids may have to take jobs they might have once thought beneath them. We'll get through this but it may take some time. Remember, we have an extremely intelligent president and team who think about this night and day.
As with this wonderful family of mine, our country will prevail.