Dear Lauren and Liam,
Although you aren’t aware of it, this is a very important time in the history of your country. Right now, Lauren, you’re more concerned with reading your latest library books, and asking when the next Girl Scout meeting will be. You’re still on a sugar high from all the Halloween candy, and already excited about Christmas. You’ve been thinking of toys for your Christmas list for weeks, though it’s only November 2nd. And Liam, you’re too busy trying to get into your sister’s things, and bringing me Wiggles videos to play for you. You’re curious about everything around you: bugs, boxes full of interesting things, birds and airplanes and choo-choo trains. You have no idea that the world around you is changing.
But changing it is. Right now, the American economy is on the brink of a disaster of proportions not seen since the Great Depression. The housing market is collapsing, the stock market seems to drop a few hundred more points each trading day, and people are losing their jobs. I survived a round of layoffs at my company; others weren’t so lucky. And the economy isn’t the only problem, though it has become first on people’s minds.
