Being rich is

This morning I had to spice up the current prompt for my writing site, "Write On" because I could see that it was dragging a bit. The current prompt is, If I won a million dollars. So I asked the members what their idea of being rich is. Then I began thinking about that question myself.

I know now that I didn't grow up rich. At the time I didn't know we were considered poor. One of my clear memories as a child was of the phone ringing and my mother telling to answer it and tell the person she wasn't home. It was no doubt a bill collector. I also remember a time when my grandparents needed a new water heater. I was impressed that they paid cash for a new one. After I graduated from high school I wanted to buy a set of Winfield china, but I couldn't afford it on my small salary from Rhodes Department Store. I was only making ninety seven and a half cents an hour. So I asked my grandparents to co-sign for me. They did, I didn't miss a payment and when the china was legally mine, I thanked them for helping me.

There was a short period of time, after I married my second husband, that we were forced to be on Welfare and used food stamps because he couldn't find a job. I hated it! During that time I certainly didn't think I was rich. Far from it!

Then in 1999 my life changed and I was forced to depend on no one but myself. Today as I look around at my life I am grateful for what I have. I have a comfortable home, that I have furnished myself, a car that I paid cash for when it was new and like minded friends who care about me. I don't have a lot of money, but I pay cash for everything I need.

My idea of being rich is being comfortable with who I am and what I have accomplished this time around on this planet called earth.