Thank you for your kind words. Actually, my parents made all the sacrifices (and there were many) - I was only 6. I mention this occasionally on FR not to brag, but to make the point that we're heading down the wrong path.
You don't have to apologize - you've never taken 1/3 of my paycheck every week, ran me off the road and gave me a bill at gunpoint, kept me from buying beer on Sundays, etc. On the contrary, you clearly understand what freedom IS. Your posts over the years fit my definition of freedom as briefly defined in my tagline. I don't mean for my screen name and tagline to sound Utopian, but rather as a goal to work towards. And you're right - I believe one day we'll move much closer to that goal.
Cheers.
Meet inneroutlaw. Inneroutlaw, meet Freedom_no_exceptions.
You two should get along just fine.