Avoiding the OS Phase ®

My mother passed away in 2004 at the age of 91. Her sister, Sue, died 2 years later at the age of 100.

Both lived through the Great Depression.

Both passed away, many years retired from their teaching professions.

Both enjoyed a fulfilling retirement, taking cruises and traveling the world.

Both were generous to those without.

Both died with money in the bank.

My mother’s car was 25 years old when she stopped driving. The air conditioner didn’t work well. She could have afforded a new car.

Mom had survived the Great Depression.

Her 1979 Malibu got the job done.

We shared Christmas vacations together. Every Christmas Aunt Sue gave me a special gift — a package of three white T-shirts.

Sue survived the Great Depression.

As a nation, we had a working retirement system supported by the companies where everyone had spent lifetimes working. Mom and Sue had good pensions from their lifetimes of teaching the next generation. As a nation, we had Social Security.

Mom and Sue shared many stories with my sisters and me about the Great Depression. They shared the same stories with our children as they grew up and visited with Grandma and Great Aunt Sue. Their stories about the Great Depression and how they survived were interesting at first, but didn’t seem relevant anymore. We always smiled at each other and winked when one of them shared another historical perspective. After all, as baby boomers, we had our own experiences that were more relevant. We experienced gas lines of the 1970’s, the oil crash in Texas in early 1980. My wife and I actually listed our home in Pennsylvania on the “morning” of Black Friday in 1987. We were heavily invested in tech stocks in the early 2000’s. We were experienced with hard times as well, and despite the stories that mom and Sue shared, these events weren’t really that bad.

Then 2008 hit – holy crap!

It’s finally happened.

Our country hit the wall or as I call it, we hit the economic OS Phase.

Even if it didn’t impact everyone in the country directly, we all saw the impact to our relatives and friends. We knew the heartbreak felt by many.

No one has classified these events as a “Depression,” but tell that to the new unemployed and tell that to all of those that are loosing everything they had spent their lifetimes acquiring.

Despite what is stated by our elected officials …This is our “Depression.”

This is the one we will share with our grandchildren and their children.

We have to share our experiences.

We have to tell the next generation to save some money and keep their debt under control and to understand and manage risks better.

We have to elect leaders that know how to manage a budget and can implement changes experienced from the recent lessons learned.

We have to … we just have to!

We have so many stories to tell and warn everyone about.

I hope the next generation listens.

It is time to start buying T-shirts.