I played music for my living for a long time and really just about survived. The great things about it though were the travel and the way it enabled me to make friends easily. I hope my children get into to it too - although you can't force these things. I was amazed a couple of years back, when they were four and one year old. I put on a CD of Mississippi John Hurt and they immediately began dancing. I was able to pass on "Go to sleep my baby" which I had heard my mother singing to my younger sisters. (This song was the subject of a recent thread). My mother never met my children and my father only met my daughter once. However, it is comforting to think that Merle has had something passed on from her grandmother. Of course, you are quite right Blues=Life. Children and music are real wealth... but I won't mind if my lottery numbers come up all the same...