Der Feuervogel aufersteht.

I have it on reliable authority that the creepiest part of this process is when you realize that either A) some of your oldest friends or B) your kids don't know any different.

But, yeah. My family tends to go the over-educated and under-paid route, which is a tradition I'm continuing. But my version of "under-paid" is going to be noticeably different, especially since I'm not continuing the other family tradition of "marry young and miserable to escape your parents". And my cousin's daughters are growing up in an entirely different atmosphere than I did, and my cousin, who's almost a decade older than me, had a very different experience than I did, financially. It's just... bizarre.