Impoverished parents now ask for more
Dear Amy: My parents were raised dirt-poor. They popped out baby after baby even though they couldn't afford to feed or properly house us. My folks had numerous opportunities to improve our lot in life and passed them all over. Dad was (and is) a coward when it comes to any sort of change -- good or bad.
I remember spending many winter nights as a child sobbing under my scavenged blanket because I was hungry and freezing because our wood stove had gone cold.
I started working at 12 with my parents' enthusiastic "encouragement" and almost every penny went toward groceries. I'm the oldest and they drilled in that it was my responsibility.
I worked all through high school, worked two jobs to put myself through college, and got a professional job that paid all my bills and some to spare. Thirty years later, I'm married, and our house and cars are paid off. Though we're far from rich, we have everything we need.
Now in their 70s, my parents have nothing. The shack I was raised in was condemned and my husband and I put them up in an apartment rather than see them homeless.
They constantly ask for money for necessities, then spend it on (what I consider) really stupid purchases. (My mother still thinks her massive collection of Beanie Babies will be worth millions someday.)
I'm bitter and resentful. Two of my siblings married rich. The others followed in our parents' footsteps and live hand to mouth.
If we cut my parents off, they'll have no place to go. My conscience can't take it.
If we continue as we are, our own retirement is at risk.
My husband has always supported my overdeveloped sense of responsibility, but I know he's frustrated and a little angry, too. What do we do?
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