Welcome to Poverty U.S.A - the land of broken dreams and hope for tomorrow.
My husband and I live here and we're not alone, millions of Americans live here with us. We are one of millions that rely on food stamps and food banks, that live in studio apartments that basically equate to slums, that have lost our homes and our cars. We are just one of millions that can't afford adequate health care, we shop at the Goodwill and the Dollar Store, we ride bicycles or walk - we smile in the face of adversity because we know that even though our lives aren't quite the way we had wanted them to be - at least we are still alive and we have each other.
A lot of us, myself included, weren't prepared for the move to Poverty U.S.A. A lot of us never had to worry about transportation, we could buy what we wanted when and where we wanted and we thought more was better. We learned hard and quick that we could do with much less, that we could use our feet to move, that without cable we could spend more time together. We learned that the radio is better than the iPOD, that we could grow and preserve food, we learned that it's possible to buy a month's worth of groceries for $30 if you get creative and that dollar store shampoo really is just as good as the "salon" brand. Some of us do our laundry by hand in our bath tubs and kitchen sinks and some of us (I admit it!) actually - gasp- enjoy it!
My husband and I were married in December of 2008 and we had a house and a nice car - but to be honest - we feel so much richer now. We spend time together, we know each other now, in a way we never would have if we hadn't moved to Poverty U.S.A . If our financial troubles all of a sudden improved, I certainly would NOT complain, but I would keep what we've learned from our stay here and I would never forget because money is not my love anymore, my love is my family and the time we share together.
