The bottom line is that I was very moved by the generosity of the Canadian couple, and I don't know if I would have been quite as charitable myself, given the chance. 

We buy lottery tickets ourselves (which cost $4.80 for the basic ticket) and have never won a thing!  A couple of weeks ago a couple here in NZ won the big prize of $28 million, though, and as I recall, they said they would both continue working at their jobs.

If by some miracle we came into some money, we'd put aside enough for our two grown children and grandchildren, give a big chunk to the SPCA, and invest the rest.  We have no desire to buy things or go on trips anymore.

As you get older, you worry less about acquiring things and more about just enjoying each day as it comes for its simple pleasures, like watching the little songbirds eat the bread we put out for them, petting our cats, or just admiring the flowering trees in the sunshine. 

That's really what life is all about.

Nov 6, 2010 -- 6:46AM, Dostojevsky wrote:

If it is the same couple I saw in my newspaper, they are well into years, wife has cancer. What could you possibly do with that money? Once you reach certain age you stop piling worldly goods. The act of giving was very nice of them and would have  done a lot of good, BUT -- the real CHARITY is giving when you can scarcely give. I think there is a story in the Gospels about it.

Yep, shore is.  And even while giving is encouraged, there's a WAY to give that's encouraged even more, that is, in secret---giving so that people will see and know of your generosity is just showing off, and is discouraged with the words similar to "that's all the reward he's gonna git"(paraphrased, of course.)

Now, it's certainly their winnings, and they may do exactly as they like with it---and what they chose to do was certainly not only extraordinarily generous, but also incredibly unselfish, an example to us all.

However, the principle "give a man a fish---teach a man to fish" applies here, in that what was given away will soon be done and gone.  If it were myself that had received those winnings, i believe i'd've hired several consultants and started a viable, practical, on-going business that would provide jobs for at least a hundred people, maybe more if the business is wildly successful(or even moderately so); in this way, ongoing sustenance is provided for quite a few, including the families of the employees, to boot.

But that kind of thinking and planning is far above either the desires or the wants of most people; most people just want to spend, spend, spend, mostly on themselves and their families.

Warmest regards-

Hatman