Author Topic: Money (Read 33354 times)

welshwitch · « **Reply #30 on:** Oct 10, 2006, 10:00 AM »

So if Ennis was conditioned from an early age, by maybe his parents and almost certainly his brother and sister, to believe that it was only to be expected that one worked hard and kept one's head above water but no more, than this attitude became part of him. He didn't have ambitions, couldn;t imagine himself as well-off and so settled for more of what he'd always had - he was the sort of man who had always been badly off and always would be. Just like he was the sort of man who didn;t set up home with another man and always would be.

It's evident that although he knows they are badly off and knows Alma worries about it, he's not prepared to do anything to change that.

If he went off with Jack for up to a week three times a year that must have meant no money coming in at all at those times, until Alma got her part-time job. And in bad weather he may have worked shorter hours or not at all - in the supermarket scene he's obviously anxious to keep his job while he's got it, as he is in the final parting from Jack.

greenfrog · « **Reply #31 on:** Oct 10, 2006, 07:37 PM »

Found this picture which seems to sum up the situation they where living in best.

tpe · « **Reply #32 on:** Oct 11, 2006, 07:05 AM »

Quote from: welshwitch on Oct 10, 2006, 10:00 AM

So if Ennis was conditioned from an early age, by maybe his parents and almost certainly his brother and sister, to believe that it was only to be expected that one worked hard and kept one's head above water but no more, than this attitude became part of him. He didn't have ambitions, couldn;t imagine himself as well-off and so settled for more of what he'd always had - he was the sort of man who had always been badly off and always would be. Just like he was the sort of man who didn;t set up home with another man and always would be.

It's evident that although he knows they are badly off and knows Alma worries about it, he's not prepared to do anything to change that.

If he went off with Jack for up to a week three times a year that must have meant no money coming in at all at those times, until Alma got her part-time job. And in bad weather he may have worked shorter hours or not at all - in the supermarket scene he's obviously anxious to keep his job while he's got it, as he is in the final parting from Jack.

Money didn't seem like an impediment to Ennis meeting Jack up until the last years. I guess the situation got tougher as he got older -- very typical, even nowadays. Or was money just a convenient excuse in the later years?

tpe · « **Reply #33 on:** Oct 11, 2006, 07:08 AM »

Quote from: greenfrog on Oct 10, 2006, 07:37 PM

Found this picture which seems to sum up the situation they where living in best.

Nice pic of this scene.

welshwitch · « **Reply #34 on:** Oct 11, 2006, 01:05 PM »

?

but isn't this a wonderful construction? Shows how they just accrete odd things and surround themselves with them in no apparent order and with no apparent intention behind them. You get the imoprssion that the can't afford to replace thngs, throw them away, etc, maybe are making do with things acquired cheaply or given to them. It's also a nice contrast with Jack and Lureen's home, which is much more co-ordinated and indicates their finanacial status.

( The carpet in this picture is so right - utterly revolting, but spot on for the period.)

jesseanne21 · « **Reply #35 on:** Oct 11, 2006, 06:07 PM »

Quote from: tpe on Oct 11, 2006, 07:05 AM

Money didn't seem like an impediment to Ennis meeting Jack up until the last years. I guess the situation got tougher as he got older -- very typical, even nowadays. Or was money just a convenient excuse in the later years?

I don't think money was an impediment to Ennis meeting Jack when Ennis was married to Alma...Ennis said in the ss and the movie that he would just quit his job in the earlier days to be with Jack. After the divorce though when he HAD to make those child support payments on time, then he had to make a choice between keeping his job or seeing Jack.

I can understand why you might think Ennis used money as a convenient excuse not to see Jack in the later years, but for me, I don't think that was the case. The pain on Ennis' face when he told Jack he couldn't meet him in August was heart wrenching (to me). And, when Jack was yelling at him about "you have no idea of how bad it gets" I could almost hear Ennis thinking to himself "I do know how bad it gets and you just don't understand how hard I'm trying to be with you."

Getting vacation time from work is sometimes really tough...the people in my office are already putting in their requests for summer vacation 2007 (everyone can't go on vacation at the same time).

Also, I was informed at 5:30 pm today that I will probably have to work all weekend (one of my attorneys is involved in a trial), so I have to take off from my moonlighting job to do my regular job (SOMETIMES WORK SUCKS).

ksxks · « **Reply #36 on:** Oct 11, 2006, 06:59 PM »

Quote from: tpe on Oct 04, 2006, 07:46 AM

I suspect that in the later years of their marriage, it was Alma that kept things afloat. But I also suspect that after the divorce, Ennis was able to live on whatever small amount of money he managed to earn. Other than the pleasures of smoking and drinking, he probably had very few non-basic expenses, no? He was poor, but I don't think he was living beyond his means (a contrast to so many people today who deal with the temptations and consequences of extended credit -- as WW has referenced in her above post.)

Yes, at least they weren't in huge debt like so many today. But they just got by. As to why they were behind on the bills, that is another story -- and that could refer not to monthly bills, but something extra, like doctor bills for the kids. I'm sure they didn't have insurance. We never did, during that time. And as said upthread [I like that], maybe Ennis's work wasn't steady, and he wouldn't get paid in bad weather.

I know for myself and others, living from meager paycheck to meager paycheck, and when you don't have any money you literally don't have any, no savings, no borrowing power. Usually a few bucks from a friend will get you by til payday. But that's without kids.

But that was a long time ago...

kathy

ksxks · « **Reply #37 on:** Oct 11, 2006, 07:00 PM »

Quote from: welshwitch on Oct 04, 2006, 11:38 AM

I also thought the amount of child support set - $250 a mionth - was a lot in 1975. Ennis clearly kept paying it so he can't have had a lot left over once he'd paid for rent, food and other essentials.

I thought that also, that that was a high amount for the time, and in the place. As opposed to in NYC or wherever, and based on the father's great income, it would be more. But from Ennis, in Riverton?

kathy

ksxks · « **Reply #38 on:** Oct 11, 2006, 07:12 PM »

Quote from: welshwitch on Oct 11, 2006, 01:05 PM

? but isn't this a wonderful construction? Shows how they just accrete odd things and surround themselves with them in no apparent order and with no apparent intention behind them. You get the imoprssion that the can't afford to replace thngs, throw them away, etc, maybe are making do with things acquired cheaply or given to them. It's also a nice contrast with Jack and Lureen's home, which is much more co-ordinated and indicates their finanacial status.

( The carpet in this picture is so right - utterly revolting, but spot on for the period.)

I'm sorry, but this is nicer than what I grew up in. If you take away the kids toys, the laundry on the chair, the empty bottles and other clutter around, it's pretty nice. (And I like the two-tone walls with chair rail.) Their furniture looks in better condition than ours did. The carpet is horrid, agreed. (We felt that "rich" people had wall-to-wall carpet. We had nice wood floors -- can you imagine thinking ugly carpeting is "better" than wood floors?) OT, but I have more about Ennis and money, but later...

kathy

tpe · « **Reply #39 on:** Oct 12, 2006, 07:09 AM »

Quote from: jesseanne21 on Oct 11, 2006, 06:07 PM

I don't think money was an impediment to Ennis meeting Jack when Ennis was married to Alma...Ennis said in the ss and the movie that he would just quit his job in the earlier days to be with Jack. After the divorce though when he HAD to make those child support payments on time, then he had to make a choice between keeping his job or seeing Jack.

I can understand why you might think Ennis used money as a convenient excuse not to see Jack in the later years, but for me, I don't think that was the case. The pain on Ennis' face when he told Jack he couldn't meet him in August was heart wrenching (to me). And, when Jack was yelling at him about "you have no idea of how bad it gets" I could almost hear Ennis thinking to himself "I do know how bad it gets and you just don't understand how hard I'm trying to be with you."

Getting vacation time from work is sometimes really tough...the people in my office are already putting in their requests for summer vacation 2007 (everyone can't go on vacation at the same time).

Also, I was informed at 5:30 pm today that I will probably have to work all weekend (one of my attorneys is involved in a trial), so I have to take off from my moonlighting job to do my regular job (SOMETIMES WORK SUCKS).

Well there is indeed one instance where money did not seem to be the issue: when Jack offered in the first fishing trip to get a downpayment from Lureen's father as a condition for divorce.

Jack certainly covered this. He had hoped that if money would not be a problem with them getting together, then Ennis would agree to a life together. I guess that for Ennis, it was also family... or was this secondary to his true fears, as he pretty much revealed in the Earl and Rich story?

As for the later years, I do still think that Ennis had some leeway, although I do admit that money was getting to be a real problem. I cannot escape the suspicion that he was withdrawing into himself more and more -- although I do not doubt that he also missed Jack terribly during the long stretches when they did not see each other. Why I say this is that I think of the possibility that a part of Ennis blamed Jack for what had become of his family and for his inability to start a new life with someone else like Cassie. He revealed as much in what he said in his last meeting with Jack...

welshwitch · « **Reply #40 on:** Oct 12, 2006, 08:43 AM »

Then Ennis is remarkably unresentful - if Alma's divorce traps him into making big child-support payments and makes seeing Jack more difficult, while she is well provided for by Monroe, you'd think he'd feel she's trapped him, as indeed she has - he has, when they divorce, something like nine years of paying for the gilrls ahead of him. Not only difficult to drop whatever job he's doing to meet Jack, but also difficult to get together a home for himself and/or marry again.

ksxks · « **Reply #41 on:** Oct 12, 2006, 04:02 PM »

Quote from: welshwitch on Oct 10, 2006, 10:00 AM

So if Ennis was conditioned from an early age, by maybe his parents and almost certainly his brother and sister, to believe that it was only to be expected that one worked hard and kept one's head above water but no more, than this attitude became part of him. He didn't have ambitions, couldn;t imagine himself as well-off and so settled for more of what he'd always had - he was the sort of man who had always been badly off and always would be. Just like he was the sort of man who didn;t set up home with another man and always would be.

This is all very interesting -- also what tpe and jesseanne said -- about Ennis's mindset, where these "stuck" attitudes came from. Jack may well have grown up steeped in the very same ideas, but somehow he escaped them. He left; he felt free to drift around but his parents were still up there in L.F. So he had a "home" to leave (home being where your "folks" are) and to go back to. Ennis didn't. He had to try and find his way, probably not going very far, just looking around him from when he was a truck-less teen living with his siblings, and seeing what he could do to get by in an acceptable way for his community. If he hadn't met Alma (I wonder where he met her -- does it say in the SS?) he might have been more like Jack. But probably he wouldn't have been like Jack in any event -- he wasn't interested in expanding his life further than the teapot. Alma was exactly what he was looking for -- home and family. That's NOT what Jack had been looking for. Also, Jack had some modest money success at an early age with rodeoing, and that seems part of his dreamer mentality -- he would be the kind who would believe that there were some big bucks out there to be made and it might as well be him to make them.

kathy

welshwitch · « **Reply #42 on:** Oct 12, 2006, 04:29 PM »

No, the ss doesn't say where Ennis and Alma met - one place might be at church, since Alma seems to go, but I don't see Ennis doing so, nor going to a drive-in or restaurant.The last place he's been with his brother was Worland, which is miles from Riverton ( and Signal). And I can't imagine Alma wandering about round the state - whatever happened to her parents, BTW? She seems as cut off from relations as Ennis.

Ennis since his parents' death has always been homeless and a sort of hanger-on of his sister and brother. Maybe that's why he wanted to settle down and marry - first bit of stability since they lost their family home. That may also be the reason why he's so unwilling to risk losing what he has by setting up with Jack - he's never been comfortable, safe, secure and what he has with Alma is better than anything he had previously.He has at least some money coming in and his girls, to whom he clings and remians committed despite what they cost him.

ksxks · « **Reply #43 on:** Oct 12, 2006, 06:55 PM »

Quote from: welshwitch on Oct 12, 2006, 04:29 PM

No, the ss doesn't say where Ennis and Alma met - one place might be at church, since Alma seems to go, but I don't see Ennis doing so, nor going to a drive-in or restaurant.The last place he's been with his brother was Worland, which is miles from Riverton ( and Signal). And I can't imagine Alma wandering about round the state - whatever happened to her parents, BTW? She seems as cut off from relations as Ennis.

Ennis since his parents' death has always been homeless and a sort of hanger-on of his sister and brother. Maybe that's why he wanted to settle down and marry - first bit of stability since they lost their family home. That may also be the reason why he's so unwilling to risk losing what he has by setting up with Jack - he's never been comfortable, safe, secure and what he has with Alma is better than anything he had previously.He has at least some money coming in and his girls, to whom he clings and remians committed despite what they cost him.

Yeah, what did happen to her parents? Not a mention of them. Not at Thanksgiving dinner in later years, either. Girls don't mention having grandparents. If they were around in the same town in the usual way, then Alma at least might not be so worried about being "behind on the bills." Though I'm sure she'd hate to ask them, and Ennis would hate for her to. But in that "usual way" which did frequently exist back then -- the extended family -- it seems she would have had more of a support system if things got bad.

And where is Ennis's brother? The sister is the one in Worland with the roughneck, right?

kathy

greenfrog · « **Reply #44 on:** Oct 12, 2006, 07:10 PM »

Speaking of Ennis's brother. I have a question to ask . . .

Look at the man just to Ennis's left. He's obviously the best man.

But who is he? Ennis's brother perhaps?

Patriot1 · « **Reply #45 on:** Oct 13, 2006, 03:11 AM »

Quote from: greenfrog on Oct 12, 2006, 07:10 PM

Speaking of Ennis's brother. I have a question to ask . . .

Look at the man just to Ennis's left. He's obviously the best man.

But who is he? Ennis's brother perhaps?

No, the man to Ennis' left is Alma.

The man to Ennis' right is his brother, his best man and the woman to Alma's Left is, I assume, her sister.

tpe · « **Reply #46 on:** Oct 13, 2006, 07:04 AM »

Quote from: ksxks on Oct 12, 2006, 04:02 PM

Quote from: welshwitch on Oct 10, 2006, 10:00 AM
So if Ennis was conditioned from an early age, by maybe his parents and almost certainly his brother and sister, to believe that it was only to be expected that one worked hard and kept one's head above water but no more, than this attitude became part of him. He didn't have ambitions, couldn;t imagine himself as well-off and so settled for more of what he'd always had - he was the sort of man who had always been badly off and always would be. Just like he was the sort of man who didn;t set up home with another man and always would be.

This is all very interesting -- also what tpe and jesseanne said -- about Ennis's mindset, where these "stuck" attitudes came from. Jack may well have grown up steeped in the very same ideas, but somehow he escaped them. He left; he felt free to drift around but his parents were still up there in L.F. So he had a "home" to leave (home being where your "folks" are) and to go back to. Ennis didn't. He had to try and find his way, probably not going very far, just looking around him from when he was a truck-less teen living with his siblings, and seeing what he could do to get by in an acceptable way for his community. If he hadn't met Alma (I wonder where he met her -- does it say in the SS?) he might have been more like Jack. But probably he wouldn't have been like Jack in any event -- he wasn't interested in expanding his life further than the teapot. Alma was exactly what he was looking for -- home and family. That's NOT what Jack had been looking for. Also, Jack had some modest money success at an early age with rodeoing, and that seems part of his dreamer mentality -- he would be the kind who would believe that there were some big bucks out there to be made and it might as well be him to make them.

kathy

Certainly, Jack must not have been as hard up as Ennis in the early years prior to Lureen, but he somehow managed to have cash saved -- not much, probably, but enough to offer a loan to Ennis. I am quite sure that both of them were pretty poor at that stage. True, Jack's marriage to Lureen changed all that for Jack, but I suspect that even before this, he had a different way of looking at money. Part of this is certainly his parents -- a home he could always go back to if he was hard up on cash (as in after the summer of 63). I am sure this is what allowed Jack to save some money. As for Ennis, he had no such recourse...

tpe · « **Reply #47 on:** Oct 13, 2006, 07:07 AM »

Quote from: welshwitch on Oct 12, 2006, 04:29 PM

No, the ss doesn't say where Ennis and Alma met - one place might be at church, since Alma seems to go, but I don't see Ennis doing so, nor going to a drive-in or restaurant.The last place he's been with his brother was Worland, which is miles from Riverton ( and Signal). And I can't imagine Alma wandering about round the state - whatever happened to her parents, BTW? She seems as cut off from relations as Ennis.

Ennis since his parents' death has always been homeless and a sort of hanger-on of his sister and brother. Maybe that's why he wanted to settle down and marry - first bit of stability since they lost their family home. That may also be the reason why he's so unwilling to risk losing what he has by setting up with Jack - he's never been comfortable, safe, secure and what he has with Alma is better than anything he had previously.He has at least some money coming in and his girls, to whom he clings and remians committed despite what they cost him.

The girls may have cost him a lot, but they were the security of his old age...

They were probably the best "investment" Ennis ever made...

Raisa · « **Reply #48 on:** Oct 13, 2006, 08:29 AM »

I´m really worried about Ennis´life after Jack´s death and after Alma Jr´s wedding. He was divorced, hadn´t permanent safe job, he was growing old. Divorce is often a turning point toward misery for many men, if they don´t have good jobs or property. They have lost their homes, became totally homeless perhaps, they have begun to use alcohol more, have to cope with child-support, maybe they see their kids seldom etc. depressing things. I wonder what happened to Ennis? Did he manage to make ends meet? He and Alma Jr. were close. I hope he spent a lot of time with Alma Jr´s family.

edgar · « **Reply #49 on:** Oct 13, 2006, 11:44 PM »

Quote from: Carmilla on Oct 13, 2006, 08:29 AM

I´m really worried about Ennis´life after Jack´s death and after Alma Jr´s wedding. He was divorced, hadn´t permanent safe job, he was growing old. Divorce is often a turning point toward misery for many men, if they don´t have good jobs or property. They have lost their homes, became totally homeless perhaps, they have begun to use alcohol more, have to cope with child-support, maybe they see their kids seldom etc. depressing things. I wonder what happened to Ennis? Did he manage to make ends meet? He and Alma Jr. were close. I hope he spent a lot of time with Alma Jr´s family.

The short story indicates Ennis is feeling the pinch during the time you discuss and might have to "go live with his married daughter." I find that very comforting, not so much for material help Ennis gets, but the emotional.

welshwitch · « **Reply #50 on:** Oct 14, 2006, 01:11 AM »

Ennis reminds me of "Howard's End", one of whose major themes is the search for a home. After losing his parents, Ennis goes from place to place, first with his sister and brother then with Alma then on his own. He never owns a place, is never more than a temporary tenant, and sometimes not a very welcome one. First his sister then his brother marries, and as he says "No more room for me". The places he lives with Alma are rented and the trailer where he ends up not a permanent home.Then if he goes to live with Alma Jr he's going to be, yet again, in someone else's home.

Then there are the tents on the mountain - refuges, but temporary, the property of someone else. And the forces of nature drive Ennis (and Jack) out of those too.

n some ways this reflects the rootlessness of many people in American history, I think, yet Ennis isn't moving in the sense of moving on, or becoming; he's just clinging on at the margins and not in the process of "becoming" anything other than what he started out as.

tpe · « **Reply #51 on:** Oct 14, 2006, 02:29 PM »

Quote from: Carmilla on Oct 13, 2006, 08:29 AM

I´m really worried about Ennis´life after Jack´s death and after Alma Jr´s wedding. He was divorced, hadn´t permanent safe job, he was growing old. Divorce is often a turning point toward misery for many men, if they don´t have good jobs or property. They have lost their homes, became totally homeless perhaps, they have begun to use alcohol more, have to cope with child-support, maybe they see their kids seldom etc. depressing things. I wonder what happened to Ennis? Did he manage to make ends meet? He and Alma Jr. were close. I hope he spent a lot of time with Alma Jr´s family.

At least his child support payments would end very soon as his two children were coming of age. But I admit that that the future looks bleak for Ennis -- money-wise, most especially. I think he would rely on his daughters more and more as he grew older -- this must have been tough for him, given his love of independence.

Patriot1 · « **Reply #52 on:** Oct 15, 2006, 02:24 AM »

My goodness people, you all talk about Ennis as if he is close to death or to the end of his working life anyway. Ennis is only 41 years old! He has another 25 or more years of working life left to him. If he was smart he would continue paying the child support, or a major portion of it, into a retirement fund for the day he did retire. But for now, he is still a young man.

welshwitch · « **Reply #53 on:** Oct 15, 2006, 07:40 AM »

I think he gives the ipression of being older, partly because he's so emphatic that he can't meet Jack in August because he can't afford to risk his present job, and is eveidently afraid he won;t get another. I don't know whether this is a realistic fear or not; whether he's old for a ranch-hand? or whether jobs are becoming more difficult to find generally, or whether he's a acquired a reputation for giving them up for no apparent ( to employers) reason. By the time Alma Jr visits him in the trailer, he hasn't been paying for her for a year, but that doesn't seem to have affected his financial position.

ksxks · « **Reply #54 on:** Oct 15, 2006, 03:08 PM »

Quote from: Patriot1 on Oct 15, 2006, 02:24 AM

My goodness people, you all talk about Ennis as if he is close to death or to the end of his working life anyway. Ennis is only 41 years old! He has another 25 or more years of working life left to him. If he was smart he would continue paying the child support, or a major portion of it, into a retirement fund for the day he did retire. But for now, he is still a young man.

Of course, P, you and I being about the same age, I thought that, too -- it must be real young'uns to be thinking Ennis was "old" in his 40's! (Oh to be in our 40's again! The prime of life.) Anyway, it doesn't seem like Ennis would have much to be putting away in a retirement fund, and most people didn't think of doing that so much then, as they do now. I'm sure he would just figure he'd live on Social Security when the time came, and that wasn't so difficult to do then, and in that place with a lower cost of living.

kathy

ksxks · « **Reply #55 on:** Oct 15, 2006, 03:10 PM »

Quote from: welshwitch on Oct 15, 2006, 07:40 AM

I think he gives the ipression of being older, partly because he's so emphatic that he can't meet Jack in August because he can't afford to risk his present job, and is eveidently afraid he won;t get another. I don't know whether this is a realistic fear or not; whether he's old for a ranch-hand? or whether jobs are becoming more difficult to find generally, or whether he's a acquired a reputation for giving them up for no apparent ( to employers) reason. By the time Alma Jr visits him in the trailer, he hasn't been paying for her for a year, but that doesn't seem to have affected his financial position.

Maybe it did affect his financial position, and maybe he was putting something away in a savings. Seems he just didn't think it necessary to spend more money on where he lived, and on things. I admire that very simple life -- it's just that my trailer would be real clean and have pretty curtains and such.

kathy

Raisa · « **Reply #56 on:** Oct 16, 2006, 02:06 AM »

Quote from: Patriot1 on Oct 15, 2006, 02:24 AM

My goodness people, you all talk about Ennis as if he is close to death or to the end of his working life anyway. Ennis is only 41 years old!

Oops! You are right, Patriot1, he is still young man. Somehow I forgot it.

I´m two years older than he, and feel like a young girl. The whole interesting life is waiting for me.

tpe · « **Reply #57 on:** Oct 16, 2006, 07:06 AM »

Quote from: Patriot1 on Oct 15, 2006, 02:24 AM

My goodness people, you all talk about Ennis as if he is close to death or to the end of his working life anyway. Ennis is only 41 years old! He has another 25 or more years of working life left to him. If he was smart he would continue paying the child support, or a major portion of it, into a retirement fund for the day he did retire. But for now, he is still a young man.

I can't imagine Ennis doing a retirement fun.

But who knows?

As far as jobs is concerned, I suspect Ennis had to compete with younger people who were probably more able to do the more exacting and more physical tasks (I don't think castrating calves fits this description, but I don't know what this job entails.)

tpe · « **Reply #58 on:** Oct 16, 2006, 07:15 AM »

Quote from: ksxks on Oct 15, 2006, 03:10 PM

Quote from: welshwitch on Oct 15, 2006, 07:40 AM
I think he gives the ipression of being older, partly because he's so emphatic that he can't meet Jack in August because he can't afford to risk his present job, and is eveidently afraid he won;t get another. I don't know whether this is a realistic fear or not; whether he's old for a ranch-hand? or whether jobs are becoming more difficult to find generally, or whether he's a acquired a reputation for giving them up for no apparent ( to employers) reason. By the time Alma Jr visits him in the trailer, he hasn't been paying for her for a year, but that doesn't seem to have affected his financial position.

Maybe it did affect his financial position, and maybe he was putting something away in a savings. Seems he just didn't think it necessary to spend more money on where he lived, and on things. I admire that very simple life -- it's just that my trailer would be real clean and have pretty curtains and such.

kathy

Well, I must admit that I had never seriously considered Ennis putting away that much in savings, but there is certainly no reason why he didn't. He certainly lived life simply, and perhaps on his own (without having to pay child support) we would have been able to save something.

Raisa · « **Reply #59 on:** Oct 16, 2006, 07:45 AM »

Quote from: tpe on Oct 16, 2006, 07:15 AM

Well, I must admit that I had never seriously considered Ennis putting away that much in savings, but there is certainly no reason why he didn't. He certainly lived life simply, and perhaps on his own (without having to pay child support) we would have been able to save something.

I can´t imagine Ennis with plenty of money. I imagine him living his life quite the same way he used to live, hard work and simple lifestyle. And when the years passed and he really grew old ( someday even he will be old), I like to see him managing to live his life quite satisfactory way. Not much money, but enough anyway, and having good relationship with his daughters. Especially I like to think Alma Jr. brought fulfillment to his life. Though I see Ennis´life after Jack´s death colored with melancholy colors.