For the first time in my life I am truly scared for my family's future.
We have all been feeling the impact of the economy all around us in various ways, but today it really hit home. My wife lost her job at Motorola. She is a very talented marketer, but in this awful job market, there are a lot marketers out there to compete with her. In fact two of her best friends, each with many years of marketing experience have also been laid off in the past week. Despite a decent severance package, it will not be long until we are draining our small savings just to pay our mortgage. I do not think I have ever been quite so scared for my family in my life. In addition to my wife, I have a 3 year old daughter and 1 year old son to look after. We will figure out a way to get by, but I fear we may be added to the long list of those that have had their house foreclosed upon if things don't turn around.
The domino effect of her layoff is already in effect. We had to let go the wonderful babysitter of ours, who takes care of our children when we work. Now she is out of work too and is just as worried about her bills as we are. You never think this is going to happen to you. It is not part of the plan. We have worked hard all of our lives for what we have and I always thought that would be enough. I guess not.
I hope that our economy makes a come back and have been looking for different ways to make money in the mean time. However I look at it, though, I have little hope that things will turn around anytime soon. You read about all the people being laid off and losing their home, but it is so different when you become one the statistics, something I never dreamed would have happened.
Thanks for reading this far and letting me share my fears with this group. It helps. Anyone need a talented Brand Marketer out there with a MBA from Kellogg? She can start right away :)
Update: Thanks for everyone's kind thoughts, good wishes and ideas. I remain hopeful that things will turn around all of us suffering through this harsh economy.