This land is your land, this land is my land… Until your lender forecloses. Vacant homes, playmates going to other schools, and empty seats at church are signs that lives are being changed by a wicked economy. Yet there is proof that diamonds are created under tremendous pressure.

One of the interesting trends in response to financial difficulties is not the college age crowd taking cover at their childhood homes. There is a remarkable strategy to avoid foreclosure happening in all fifty states. Instead of your elderly parents moving in with their kids the opposite is happening. We took the plunge when the economy took my job.

We moved in to my parents retirement home with two children of our own. Although much of our belongings went into storage we still had some of our important items. There was no way I was leaving my dreadnought acoustic guitar in storage. My wife had me put her fitness equipment in the unused room above the garage. She carried her kindle reader all by herself.

The economy accomplished what our hectic schedules had never allowed. Honest quality time with each other. We are playing board games now that used to take up closet space. The kids have learned card games that I thought died out in the era of black and white television. There is bonding that crosses generations.

My Mom has a page on a social site and now has over 100 friends. My daughter is helping my Mom’s social group with a quilt to raise money to fulfill critically ill children wishes. I actually caught my son playing cribbage with my Dad. I can still see the sheepish look on my Dad’s face when I caught him reading and e-book.

Old relationships are being renewed. My wife and I have been visiting with my parents friends and making new connections. It was through one of my Mom’s friends that my wife found out about a better job opportunity. My Dad and I had lots of talks in the workshop that I was not much interested in as a kid.

Wrapping up a day of chasing fish my Pop asked me if I thought the kids might like spending some weekends at their house after we move back to our home next year. He said he was also wondering if we might be able to get together for a couple out of state fishing trips next summer.

It was in those moments that I knew a cold hard fact. As destructive as our economy had become it was also the reason our home and our family had benefited. I also knew I was going to have a terrific trophy fish hanging on the wall before next winter.