Remembering the Happy, the Sad As We Approach Christmas - With the Passbook Savings Account Thrown In

Every year, the holidays approach with a special kind of remembering. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's got to do with most folks having strong indelible memories of events surrounding Christmas. They're easily triggered during the weeks leading up and, to some extent, following Christmas.

Some will be happy, some sad. A mix. I get the happy-sad memories, having a fair dose of each myself. 

There's one other emotional state that's not exactly happy-sad. It's memorialized in the pop Christmas tune "Blue Christmas." The songwriter describes a particular reason for his Blue Christmas. But I know folks who get "the blues" for reasons having nothing to do with that song. I'm not always sure what makes these folks blue. But I do know they really suffer from this. 

As I said, I'm now squarely in the happy-sad camp. Growing up, it was mostly the happy. Most of my friends and schoolmates seemed pretty happy too. But I knew folks who had family members die on or around Christmas. I remember thinking that this was maybe the worst thing that could happen to those the dead person left behind. I felt bad for people who lived with memories of a loved one dying around Christmas.

Since then, that worst thing has come into my life. And it really was and is pretty bad. Once it comes, it never really leaves. You learn to live with it. If you've had a dear loved one die around Christmas, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. 

But the happy memories don't just disappear. Thank God. They may not take center stage as they once did. And for some time after the death of a loved once around Christmas, they may not make an appearance at all. But they're still there, somewhere. After lying buried for a spell, they'll reappear - if you let them.

I've learned not to let them. To do that, I pray that I not dwell on the sadness. I do need God's help with this. Left to my own devices, I'd likely gin up emotions that really don't need the ginning up. So I pray for the grace not to gin such feelings up. When they come, I acknowledge and accept them. But I don't hold on to them with a death grip. My deceased loved one won't be any less deceased. And my misery will likely spill over to those loved ones who are still here with us - which I'm sure my deceased loved one wouldn't want. 

So for all of you in the happy-sad camp, don't let your mixed remembering get stuck in the sad. 

Now what does the Passbook Savings Account have to do with all this? The connection lies in the remembering. And the specific recollection at this time was spurred by a conversation we recently had with a client, which we'll get to in a moment. For most of us who once had 'em - those old Passbook Savings Accounts - they're likely a happy memory. For those who've never known 'em, it was the Passbook itself that made them happy. Here's why, with some background so you'll understand:

Once upon a time, banks offered Passbook Savings Accounts. For those of you who never heard of, or don't remember these accounts, you can find a good historical survey HERE.and HERE. The basics:

Passbook savings accounts work the way a lot of banking used to function. Before computers, the internet, online bank statements and text message alerts, customers had to rely on paper-based records to keep up with their finances and their bank balances. When it came to savings accounts, your passbook was a key tool.

As for the conversation with our client, it focused on how much we not only enjoyed our PSAs, but how much we learned about saving from them. We reminisced about going to the local bank to deposit whatever we had saved up. We brought our Passbook with us. When we gave the teller our $5 or $10 dollars, they'd take the book and update it. It was filled with a record of our deposits, along with a line under each that recorded the interest we earned. (NB: You actually did earn meaningful interest of 5% back in the day.) It was exciting to check the book when the teller returned it to us. The balance went up by the deposit, plus the interest. Over time, you watched your money grow. It motivated you to save more.

It was a happy remembering we shared in that conversation.

One more thing: Both of us bemoaned the fact that we could not share our experience with our children growing up. By then, the PSAs had mostly been eliminated by banks. So what was a really good way to learn not only the benefits, but the fun of saving has been taken away. 

Of course, even if the banks still offered those venerable Passbooks, we'd still have the problem of their not paying any meaningful interest. Even the banks that do offer something more than 0% - 0.10% interest come nowhere near that rock solid 5% we earned growing up. And without the interest - the power of compounding come alive right there before your eyes - the Passbook would lose most of its charm. 

(BTW, apparently there are banks that still provide PSAs. But you'll have to look that up yourself, if interested.) 

Could we include the disappearance of the Passbook Savings Account in that list of "Screws" from our recent series of posts? Sure. But we said we'd stop posting that image of the Big Screw in deference to the coming of Christmas. And so we shall not post that image. Doing so would be something like ginning up sad memories during the holidays. So we'll stick with the happy memories for now.