In the comment section of one of my prior diaries, the commentor pointed out that many of you no longer believe upward mobility is possible in this eonomic and political environment. I, of course, pray that is not yet a fact. Although we may quickly be heading for an inflexable ecoomic caste system, I still see avenues of opportunity.
In 1979, my husband's parents loaned us 10,000$, and we bought our first home. The day after we signed the paperwork, my husband was laid off. Our payment was 351$ a month. I was working in management with KFC, and was earning 11,000$ a year. Payday was twice a month and after taxes I earned almost exactly 350$. The first check each month paid our house payment. The second check paid our electric bill, phone bill, and automobile insurance. My husband's unemployment checks fed us, and bought my gas. We never had a penny left over, and we didn't eat like royalty, but we squeezed by most months.
I wasn't happy living like that.
At first I tried several job changes, looking for something that would provide us with a good income, yet be challenging and interesting to me. Then, I had an outstanding idea.
My husband and I would both quit our jobs, and go to college. By then he had gone back to work driving a cab third shift. I quit my job that day. When I went home and unveiled my grande plan to my husband, he was convinced that I was stark raving mad. Between Pell Grants, TN State Grants, Federal Work Study, and Student Loans, I put a financial plan in place for us. We often blithely drove off to school in the morning without having enough gas to get home, and no money to purchase any. Something always came along. I wrote and typed papers, or tutored other students. We always made it home.
My husband discovered how intelligent he truly was while he was in college. He had been wasting himself driving a truck or a cab. After college, he became one of this country's leading experts in database programming. He worked for Roper, GE, Lifecare, Ceredian Benefits, and Aaron Rents. He achieved every goal he set for himself beore he died in 2009. We lived in an amazing home in Cobb County, just North of Atlanta. The car he owned when he died was worth more than our first house. I'm glad he achived his goals, and glad that he was able to spend all his money before he died. I like to think that I contributed to his success.
Now, I am faced with life without him. It is heart shattering to loose someone who is truly your soul mate. He has been dead for 5 years, and until recently I was buried so deeply in my own grief that I didn't care what came next. I finally woke up. I had to. Like any mother, I would do almost anything or my son. I find myself responsible for my adult child, because he no longer has the capacity to care for himself.
We have both been relatively poor before, and we both remember what it was like to do without things and services that we need. But there is a fundamental difference for both of us now. We had always, in the past, been able to generate additional income by buying store returns, and reselling them at the flea market. Neither of us has the physical ability to do that type of work now. Our disability is another obstacle that I will need to overcome.
I am counting on being able to make a profit writing novels. I have one which needs a through developmental and content editing followed by a copy edit, interior design, and formating. It also needs cover art. If anybody here could point me in the right direction, I would be grateful for the guidance. I don't expect to be sucessful overnight, it takes years of work. I'm willing to do the work, I just need to know that I'm not spinning my wheels.