Featured Column

Week of 3.1.2009

About Money

Leah Lieberman lives on the Lower East Side in New York City. Retired from NYU, she enjoys doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles on her computer. A graduate of NYU where she majored in anthropology. These days she attends writing and exercise classes at a nearby senior center. In the past, she has been a volunteer at the American Museum of Natural History.

How ironic it is to write about money at this time, when the country is in a situation that reminds me of the Great Depression that occurred when I was a little girl. At that time, my mother could not give me a dime to take to school for poor children overseas, and, although she always managed to put food on the table, there were times when it was difficult for my parents to make mortgage payments on our house.
 
Today I manage well enough on my retirement pension, Social Security, and savings. My physical limitations make it difficult for me to get out of my immediate neighborhood, to restaurants or department stores, so I don't buy much, except what I can purchase from catalogs or on line. In any case, my philosophy is --It's only money. There is so much that is more important in life, such as one's health and family. I'm grateful that I have reasonably good health and can do what I most need to do. My son has a good job as a systems analyst and seems to be busy and happy.
 
Of course over time I have seen some terrible things done for money and at the present time I feel great sadness for the many people being deprived of their livelihood. It seems every day I read about some enterprise shutting down or laying off many people, and I feel for those who are deprived of their income. Not much I can do about it except give to those charities that I feel are worthy.