Amen.

As for teenagers -- my parents admitted they had it pretty easy. My brother, sister and I weren't dramatic and never got into significant trouble. We had sports to keep us busy and part-time jobs when we were sixteen.

A friend of mine's stepson was recently enrolled in a military school, because of behavioral problems at home and to get him away from the bad crowd he was running with.

You have a list of concerns so now you can analyze them, address what you can and know that some things are just out of our control.

Illinois taxpayers are fortunate the Olympic bid did not go through. Londoners were told the 2012 games would cost the city $4 billion and that has since been revised up to $15 billion. From what I've read, the last Olympics to turn a profit was Los Angeles '84. Chicago doesn't need the Olympics to prove it's a great city. American sports enthusiasts now have 7 years to save up for a trip to Rio!

As for winter, I love it and don't worry a bit about it! I hope we get lots of snow. Our neighborhood is never friendlier than after a big snow. Strangers help drivers whose cars get stuck. Neighbors shovel sidewalks for those who can't. And everything is beautiful, especially when a sticky snow highlights every twig on the trees.

If the power goes out I'll get out some candle lanterns, bundle up and go to sleep earlier. I look forward to snowshoeing and perhaps sledding my pup. Summer is my least favorite season here. Power outages take out the a/c. Tempers flare even more in traffic when it's hot and humid.

Odds are that twenty years from now participants on ETS will still be talking about what might happen, and the old timers will be marveling about what had not happened in the interim.

Be prepared, but don't lose faith.