Lessons from my 86 year old grandmother. 

By Jason Criss Howk and Geneva Rossier

She lived through the depression on a Vermont farm where she went to work daily as a laborer before she was a teenager. She ended up leaving school before her senior year as she could no longer juggle running the farm for her dad and her school-load.  She worked her whole life in a variety of tough jobs, is a better handyman than 90% of American men, and she can still kick your butt if you get out of line. 
We shared a lot of great ideas this week as we reflected on the world and the state of America. (She turns 86 this month)

  
 1. The best job in the world is one you can get. Be happy to have any job and do well at it. Of course look for better jobs and move up in the world but don’t disrespect the place that is providing you money to live on. 

2. Don’t judge others. Don’t be envious of people who have more than you, you get what you work for in life. 

3. Everyone must pay taxes and no one should expect anything for free. The world owes you nothing but the freedom to pursue the life you want to live. 

4. Help your neighbors. If everyone in a community took pride in themselves and their towns, people could take care of each other when they are down on their luck. Person to person charity is much more efficient than sending money to the government or large bureaucratic non-profit organizations. 

5. The key to better healthcare in a society is lowering the price of services and medicine, not building large government structures to dispense healthcare. Reduce fraud and lower costs of doing business. 

6. Congress needs term limits. Working in congress should be a part time job with minimal benefits so that people don’t become professional politicians and the lobbyists lose power in DC. People like Leahy and Sanders do little to improve the country and instead help their friends and themselves. Congress and the president should have to use the VA not get gold-plated health insurance. We need fewer lawyers in DC and more people that work for a living or create jobs. 

7. What the VA does to our veterans is disgusting. Vets are the first Americans we should be spending lots of healthcare money on. They earned it. 

8. The world is getting messier. We need to be stronger in America. Economically responsible and militarily prepared.  

9. Life is not fair. Everyone faces hardships. How you respond to difficult moments define what type of person you are. You can be whatever you want and how well you do in life mostly depends on your decisions. Spend wisely, prepare for emergencies, and help your friends in need.  

10. Use it or lose it. If you want to be good at something then practice. If you want to be healthy, stay active. If you want to be loved, then love others. 

11. Moderation is the key. A drink of alcohol is not going to kill you and just because you go to church doesn’t mean you are acting like a Christian everyday. You don’t need a closet full of clothes and a garage full of cars. Make what you have last and spend extra money on making memories with your family and friends.