When I was 5, my grandfather who was a general contractor wanted me to be an architect. When I was 7, he told me that I needed to become a civil engineer. At age 10, I announced that I was going to become a bishop but ended up removing my hat from consideration when as a tween I realized that bishops had to be celibate. No thank you, not for me. At about that time my father, a medical equipment manufacturer, wanted me to be a doctor and my grandfather was still pushing hard for the civil engineering gig. I didn't even know what an architect was, and when I asked I was told that he is the man who builds houses. "Then what is a builder grandpa?" I asked, but received no good answer. I didn't even bother asking him what a civil engineer was, resolving that it was probably an engineer who was polite. Wrong, but not for me just the same.

August 27, 1976, seems so long ago but it feels like yesterday. It was on that day that I took my first steps on American soil at JFK airport determined to make a life on my own.  I had left my loving family in Greece to join a host family in the Boston area as an exchange student, in search of a future that I hoped I'd have a hand in influencing instead of accepting what was served to me by the status quo.  So without language skills, or knowledge of people or culture, I set out to prove to myself that I could.

Congratulations Mom and Dad. You survived the teenage years! You and I both know, you deserve a damn medal just for that. You taught them what they need to know to thrive in the world, and now they are off to college. But did you teach them proper financial management? Managing a college student's cash flow is imperative to the habits they establish for life and keeps you away from having to have unpleasant discussions with them and bridging their shortfall.