Picture this?

When my parents got married they moved into a tiny little dinky house. When they finally paid off the mortgage decades later -- while my brother and I watched --with great fanfare they burned the mortgage papers because their home was really and truly, finally theirs.

A couple of years ago, Da Kid watched as Hubby and I held a similar ceremony.

We were passing on to him the same message our parents had given us. Work hard and one day, you can have your own house. It's yours.

Turns out that's a crock thanks to today's Supreme Court decision on eminent domain.

The New London neighborhood that will be swept away includes Victorian-era houses and small businesses that in some instances have been owned by several generations of families. Among the New London residents in the case is a couple in their 80s who have lived in the same home for more than 50 years. -- High Court Expands Reach of Eminent Domain

All it takes is somebody or a company with deep pockets that wants your home, but for whatever reason you just don't want to sell.

No problem, for "Mr. Big."

"Mr. Big" can now go to your local government and through eminent domain, have them take your home from you, and then give it to him because his project, whatever it may be, will generate more property taxes than you're paying.

"The city has carefully formulated an economic development that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including - but by no means limited to - new jobs and increased tax revenue," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority. -- Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes

So say you don't own the home yet. The mortgage on it is . . . $100,000. A "Mr. Big" wants the property and through eminent domain, he forces you to sell it to him for $60,000 in "just compensation."

Not only have you lost your home, but you're still obligated for the mortgage on it.

And we didn't even get kissed first, did we.