Those are all tragedies, and probably all related to the winning of the money, but do you blame the people who won, or the people involved in their downfall? As an example, I know a couple who won the powerball about 10 years ago. They gave some money to their son who travels around the country and the world and I've not seen the couple since. There's nothing amiss, they retired and bought a horse ranch in the Ozarks.

See, the problem is people think that when they win the lottery, that money will be endless. A million here, a few hundred thousand there, no big deal because I have all this money now, right? Were hubby and I to win the lottery, we would get a house, a sensible house, nothing too crazy. Nicer cars for us both (a nice minivan for me, and a regular car for him). We would take care of our debt (which isnt horrible) and then we would set up trust funds for our kids and invest the rest. Hubby knows a guy (an accountant, I think) that he could hire and he would help us handle our money. We wouldnt go on a huge shopping spree like a lot of people do. The only thing I would not want to deal with it the sudden influx of "friends" and "long lost family members".

I have no pity for the "temporarily" rich.

I remember when Jack's granddaughter Brandi went missing. She was a regular where I worked and we put up posters for her in the store.

He's a complete mess. I have plenty of pity for him.