"Be grateful for what you have." Lorene Haynes (Shell-Wilson) My mother

No it's not Thanksgiving, the time that most people give thanks for what they have. But that should not be the only time you look around and understand what you have achieved in life and the life you have today compared to what you had years ago. You probably have much more and have a better life than before.

I am SO thankful for my mother who raised me by herself, after she and my father divorced when I was 8 y.o.. I know she struggled to make enough of a living for us two, but I never thought we were poor until I got older. I never went hungry, or wore raggedy clothes or lived in rundown housing. It may not have been the best neighborhood but that was what she could afford. I see all that more clearly now, as an older adult. It was tough on her being a single mother. 

It is natural for people to always want better things, a nicer home, more stylish clothes, a newer car, and the latest phone. I hear kids say, "Why can't get a newer phone, Johnny has one!" Some parents buy their children the latest styles of clothing because it has the "LOGO", and that's OK, if you can afford it. I problem with that is the children may think they have to have that same lifestyle after they move out and realize they can not afford it with Mom or Dad getting it for them.

I have a theory. I believe advertising runs our whole economy. Commercials, billboards, and color magazine ads influence us to want the fancy watch, or the newest advancements in cars, or to live in the classist neighborhood in a big house. maybe for bragging rites, or to show-off what you have. I over heard one lady tell another, "I live in SCOTTSDALE, not Phoenix." as she cocked her chin higher, stroked and fluffed her hair. As if she was better that the other lady. HEY LADY! Who cares!  (Maybe I was a little too dramatic in my description).

I also have another theory that the economy is built on the backs of the working lower and middle class folks like most of us. The people who budget their money, sometimes to the penny. I believe my mother's struggles is what she instilled in me. to be more frugal and penny wise. For that one reason, amongst other reason, I do not believe a multi-millionaire should be our President. I believe we need a person that grew from lower income and climbed up, on their own, to respect people that work hard to get to a better life and understand the hardships of life. That is NOT Donald J. Trump. Truthfulness is not his high point. I believe Trump would have looked down on people like my mother.

We have about two weeks until election day. Some of you may have already voted, we have. I could not wait to vote and send in my decision on who should be in what office. I was very decisive in every choice I made. But not everyone is that decisive as I was.  I just don't like liars, cheaters and sore losers. I don' trust them at all.

All I am asking you all to do is research the information out there, and it's all online, then vote your conscious to bring us all back together and save our democracy. Thank you for reading this and I'll get off my soapbox now. Take care. I love you Mom.