Interesting article in the Daily Mail yesterday titled “The Cure of the 9/11 Widows†which details on how the lives of 9/11 widows lives has changed since their husbands’ deaths. Instead of focusing on the widows trying to rebuild their lives without their husbands, it focuses on how the payout received from the government changed their lives for the worse.
No one could have known that for many of them, the money would destroy their lives once again, attracting jealousy, resentful relatives and making them even more depressed. Some would become squandering, spendaholic widows, their payouts fuelling addictions which could not replace the husbands they had lost. Others would become embroiled in legal battles with their families, their lives eaten up by bitterness.
The sad part is that many of the widows seem to be using their widowhood as an excuse for their spending habits or bad decisions they’ve made. Losing a spouse under any circumstances is difficult but no excuse for poor behavior. (I have an article that addresses widowhood and responsibility that I’m currently writing. Should be posted in the next 72 hours.)
The true tragedy here is that Congress thought paying off the widows would somehow compensate for the loss of their spouse. Instead, like most lottery winners, money just made their lives even more miserable.
The MasterCard commercials are right. There are some things money can’t buy. Apparently happiness is one of them.