Today I began to cry as I read through the emails my wife and I wrote three years ago when we first met. I've been crying off and on for as long as I can remember it seems. Our emails are filled with so much love and hope for the future. We were so innocent and on the right track it seemed.
Layoffs at my job seemed to come out of nowhere and constantly everywhere seemed to be following suit in our area of Ohio. We were still optimistic as my wife is a teacher with a Master's Degree and I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She had saved money before we met and we were sure things would come around.
As I registered for all sorts of job help sites and visited state funded locations to help along with job fairs, employment agencies, etc. I realized this was going to be a struggle. I tried them all, participating in workshops, taking classes and everything to give me an edge.
Soon the news was announcing how schools in our area were in financial trouble and measures were going to happen. My wife stayed optimistic as she would soon be tenured and that meant a lot to her and her future. Next the news came of her schools pay freeze, insurance changes, no more seniority or tenuring as far as job security and the list seemed to be growing.
Now as I write this to you she is making less than $300 a pay period because all changes are retroactive. The savings we had is now day by day and we are so scared. I've put my car up for sale, our house will need to go next, our student loans are getting higher and higher. I was so happy to provide a small foreclosed house as a starter for us when we got married. I thought it was a good investment.
I had bills that accumulated with the house but was promised a large refund with the purchase of my house. The house needed work so I charged knowing that I could soon pay the cards off. I learned the type of loan I received was not eligible for the tax credit. When we got married I decided to go into a credit counseling service rather than bankruptcy so I could pay off everything even though my payments jumped over $100 a month more than what I was paying alone.
I sit and wonder how this came to here and now. I want to be a provider. We were trying to start a family and my wife was in the initial stages of seeing a fertility specialist. Those dreams are now on hold because we cannot afford to live on our own.
I wish I could give my wife the life she wants with children. I often wish she would have found a better care taker. We seemed to do everything like we were supposed to but this came like a storm.
I know there a lot of people of need help. I know there are a lot of scams. We are two real people with a real problem on our shoulders. If you could help us get back on our feet then one day I hope to be able to do this for someone else. The times are tough and I am running out of options.
If you decide you would like to help I've attached a link where you can donate to us. I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to read this and caring enough!
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