My eyesight-was without for the better part of 3 yrs...finally got that all straightened out last October......

Freedom to choose.

my family.

Too many things! But number one would have to be my husband.

Booze

A house of my own!

Moni

Hearing and eyesight. The world is a very dark, quiet place without.

Absolutely eyesight! Next would be electricity.

Yes, hearing and eyesight. I haven’t experienced the loss of those, but I HAVE experienced the inability to walk. Being able to get up and walk is pretty darned important to me too.

Fresh flowers. In season from my garden but in the winter I buy them. Right now I have paperwhites that just opened up yesterday. I overbought at Christmas time and didn't start them all at once. I started the last pot yesterday and they should be blooming about the time the present ones are spent. This is just a special treat for myself that I really enjoy.

My mind.

My sons

My family. When I was away on business for several months at a time, communication just wasn’t enough sometimes.

Aside from the basics like electricity, plumbing, etc. and family, friends, and pets, it would be the internet.

Oh my! I don't think I can narrow it down to just one thing. Fresh water is definitely a huge priority, followed by electricity. And of course, just about everything everyone else has already listed. Does it have to be a material thing? The freedom to worship is very important to me, as are all of our freedoms.

Rusty

Power and water.

Fresh water followed by food. Although that could reverse. Lived the early part of my life without lights, running water, and a bathroom so although those are conveniences they are not necessities. Coffee would run a close third.

For me, too many things to mention. I'm happy with how things are, everything is fine. It's not a matter for me or anyone else of being spoiled, isn't it more that we live our lives enjoying what we have and if there's a choice, don't want to shove anything overboard.

maifleur, sounds like your early life was with very basic home circumstances. Was it on an old farm?

Sort of. My grandmother lived with us even though she owned the house in back of ours. Her doctor thought she was developing TB and told my parents to get us away from her. Back in the early 50's there was no cure. I have flashes of various people building what was basically half of a house which was to be finished later on a 80 acre farm that had came into the family in 1819. I do not know why it was never finished. Only later when one of my fathers's friends called to ask what we wanted done with the stuff in the house dad was living in after his stroke did I find out that someone had told him that he would die within a year if he ever lived in a fully modern house. This may have been why nothing was done. Eventually another house was built with electricity, telephone, wood stove for heat, but propane for cooking but no water or indoor plumbing. Living in the country water would have been needed to be hauled an placed in a cistern as most of the water wells used for livestock had oil in them.

I don't want to be without a car as it is a necessity where I live.

I agree with Moni....a house of my own. I'd take a shack....have lived in a few of those....as long as it belonged to me.

Would hate to lose my hearing or my eyesight. Dread no longer being able to drive or live in my own home. Getting old sucks...

My home. And my libido.

Water. (from California)

Oh my...this is a hard one....freedom, family, mind, eyesight, clean water & food...I take far too much for granted.

My family and my home, both safe places for me.

My husband hands down. If I had to I could learn to live without all the other things but not my rock.

Creature comforts in general. I see those survival movies/TV shows and I totally don't get it. If there is a zombie or nuclear apocalypse, I want to go on day one. I cannot imagine no heat, no AC, no water, no coffee, no refrigeration, etc. Oh, and everyone would smell really bad because of no hot showers, soap, or shampoo. No thanks!

Three things have been mentioned that I too wouldn't choose to be without. Most importantly is my mind because my mother had dementia. I also have to have my own house. And lastly, my husband, but I have learned to live without him since he passed away 4+ years ago.

Having my own home is not important to me at all.......gave that up almost 15 years ago now and haven't missed it at all. To me it was far more of a headache than a sanctuary. I can make a home anywhere.

I guess not having good health would be on the top of my list - without that, life is not much worth living. And by that I mean full mobility, eyesight and most (if not all) of my mental faculties. Having a fatal disease is different and while never something to relish, I would hope I could get used to that fact, knowing that my time here would be seriously limited and that I would need to make the most of it.

After that it would be my family and my pets. I do realize that my current pets will be gone long before I am but there will always be some small, fuzzy creature in my life.

I'd also have some very serious issues if coffee suddenly disappeared out of my life. Can't quite comprehend life without caffeine :-))

I would be unhappy without eyesight. I could adapt to not having many things, but I wouldn't want to be without at least one cat.

Personal: general good heath

Financial: security until I die

Creature comforts: plumbing

this is tough!!

i guess, my health. without good health, nothing else really matters.

family, friends

superficial: TV, internet, Football -GO BIRDS!!, IPA's (beer), great food, coffee

Food and shelter. No, wait, you said one thing. That would be food.

A Bible, I'm not good at memorization.

My mind. I figure as long as I don't get Alzheimer's disease I can deal with most anything else. Health or otherwise.

I wouldn't want to be without God in my life or without my husband.

I was going to say eyesight ... but blind people can function. It's really my mental capability, as I don't want to be here without that: to be physically present but with the mind permanently gone - not my idea of a life.

Electricity is important ... and clean water. We had electricity when I was a child (got our first small table radio when I was about ten), and drinking water in a hand pump in the back yard.

(Clean) water under pressure when I was seven ... had Mom been home when we got the pressure water, we'd likely have had a bathroom, but as it was I didn't have a flush toilet or installed bathtub until I went to university ... so I know that I can function, lacking them.

Very thankful to have the many privileges which we enjoy ... and concerned that they seem to be draining away.

ole joyfuelled

.

My family. DH and I have weathered many a storm without electricity and appliances in our most impoverished years. Without my family that would be a great difficulty.

I sure would miss the magical dish washer. You know, the one that will tackle any pot or pan, get it shiny as new. Also leaves the entire counter full of dirty dishes, sparkling and ready to be put away! Leaves the sink clean and empty, ready for the next person!

Oh wait, it's my dear husband that has that.

/mostly joking....

Books

Like AAA, I couldn't live without books. Also my computer.

Fresh clean water.

After a hurricane, we were without electricity for 7 days and water for 9 days. We had a small generator that ran the frig and pool pump. We had to run the pump to keep the water sanitary. It was the only relief from the heat. We used pool water to flush toilets.