My grandparents would sometimes speak about how poor they were whenever they came over from the "old country".  Jobs were hard to find and the wages were next to nothing.  Putting food on the table was a concern and the folks had to "save their pennies" in case of an emergency.

I think that in many ways they were rich . . . ways we may have forgotten or just neglected.  Have a good day . . . if you've seen this story before it's still worth a reread.

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how>poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?

" It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.  We have a  pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.  We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.  Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.  We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.  We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.  We buy our food, but they grow theirs.  We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

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