When Gracie and her husband returned from their honeymoon in the early 1930s, the newlyweds moved into a two-bedroom apartment. They slept in one room, and Gracie’s mother occupied the other. She lived with them until she passed away at the age of 85.

I am a Gen X’er. In my world, people get married, move into their own place, then retire, and often move again. As Gracie has explained to me, though, it’s only fairly recently that Americans have had the luxury of retirement and independent living.

When she was growing up, retirement homes didn’t exist. If you could no longer live on your own and had the financial resources, then maybe you would move into a nursing home. But not likely. Chances are — you’d move in with your children or any relatives that would take you.

In Gracie’s mother’s case, she was a widow. She received a small stipend from the government to care for Gracie. But once Gracie got married, that monthly income disappeared. Having no way of supporting herself, she became part of her daughter’s new household.

We have moved so far away from this mindset today, it’s hard to believe that we’re only talking about a gap of 70 years or so. Our expectations are out of control, in comparison. The fancy wedding, the house, the car, the entertainment system, the bulging 401K. Where do I begin?

Gracie’s wedding reception was held in her mother’s living room, her honeymoon was at the family cottage in western New Jersey, and she wore one maternity dress throughout her entire first pregnancy.

Every day across the country, people are losing the lovely 3,000-square-foot Colonials that were unheard of just 50 years ago. Our SUVs are being repossessed. And our retirement savings are dwindling quickly.

There’s a lot of talk, of course, about how Americans are having to “size down” their lives in order to adjust to the new norm. But the way I see it, we need an entirely new skill set.

It’s going to take more than just doing without a few extras. We have to lower our expectations — and that’s not such a bad thing.

But how do we even begin?

It might do us some good to take a cue from the remaining members of Gracie’s generation. They’re the ones who know what it means to live simply and earnestly. They did it for a long, long time. And from what I can tell, they were pretty happy folks.