Growing up as a kid and living above a tavern, I dreamed of better days. I had high hopes.
Then I met your Mom. Things were looking up. They lived on top of the "hill" and had new cars and expensive clothes. When I married into the family, the prospect for a rich inheritance soared. Alas, it wouldn't happen. In the end, the State was subsidizing Nana's existance. There went my high hopes.
I had to revert to my own means. I saved silver dimes in the 70's waiting for silver prices to soar. The silver market was held hostage in the 80's by the Hunt brothers (oil billionaires). I could have made 20 times the value of the dimes. I held out. I had high hopes. It has taken 20 years and I finally did sell the dimes for 20 times face value, but it did not come close to meeting my expectations.
Before Grandma Alice died she gave me her silver tea set. She wanted me to have it. I figued I had hit the "mother lode", but because of sentimental value, I hung on to the set for years. When I went to sell the silver set, eBay was showing similar silver tea sets valued as high as $15,000. We had the set appraised and it turns out the set is "silver plated" and worth less than $100. Again, I could feel my dreams slipping away.
Lately, I found some antique gold watches my Grandma Myrna had given me. They came from her family and dated back to the late 1800's. Whoa! Gold! Antique! Watches! Here was my ticket to easy street. Turns out the watches are "gold plated" and maybe worth $10 for the parts.
So you see, I keep skirting the edges of moving into the top 1% of Americans consided to be wealthy. There is always the possibility of bringing a law suit against someone and getting a big settlement. Or maybe I can win the Powerball Lottery with odds of 150 million to 1. Then there are the Indian casinos in the area. I might pull the lever for the big jackpot.
Upon reflection, I've always got "family". It is more valuable than all the riches in the world. It is the gift that keeps giving. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I've been rich all along; I just never realized it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Life needs high hopes. They are different for everyone. They keep you going.
Here is hoping you pull the "magic lever".
Love,
Dad
Leave a comment