But I've written something I wanted to share, I wrote this to share with another site where we are trying to get help with a car but I wanted to share it with all of you.
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Four years ago if I knew it would be like this, I would have
invested more, saved more. But no one would have known the turn our lives would
take, that in one fell swoop we would lose all we knew and never gain it back.
It was Nov. 9th 2007, I was in the hospital
having my 6th child and on the news was the report that the movie
industry was going on strike. I cried cause I knew that the life that we were
used to was going to disappear quickly. It took about 3 months but by Feb of
2008 we were out on our butts with no car or home. We had lost everything,
because if there were no movies or tv shows to write then there was no crew or
equipment to watch. The work that was there was far away, well past the drive
being worth the pay.
We had also just gotten the Dx of autism for Racer, so our
lives were slowly crumbling apart. We spent two months in a run down motel I
still cringe about the living conditions of that place. I was trying to finish
school which left the hubs living in the motel with 5 kids and a newborn.
When our time ended there we had to split the family and I
stayed with my dad and the baby while he went to his dads with the kids to be
close to the school they would be going to. It was the hardest year of my life,
raising a newborn, living in Los Angeles
When we both realized that we just couldn’t do it anymore I
dropped going to school to take on the full time job of caring for Racer while
the hubs took odd jobs here and there. We found a run down house to live in
that we could afford on unemployment and the SSI money we were getting for
Racer. We barely made ends meet, thankfully we had foodstamps. For those that
want to judge, I have no shame….we had it all. The perfect car, the nice
clothes, the nice apartment, my kids never wanted for anything. But when you
have to put food on the table you swallow your pride and do what needs to be
done.
The hubs found a job as a security guard getting paid under
the table for a while, till they company he worked for got out bid and he lost
that job. Then he lucked upon a job at the local courthouse as a clerk typist,
it was perfect for us, 9-5 and no weekends. It was such a change to have him go
from 17+ hour days 6 days at week working in Hollywood
If nothing it strengthen his relationship with the kids and
myself. But it wasn’t enough and then the CA budget cuts came and the
courthouse had to let some people go. Since the unwritten rule is always last
hired first fired, the hubs once again lost our only slice of good.
Cut to a year later, no work….who wants to hire the guy who
used to make $30 and hour to flip burgers. I remember putting in 80
applications for him in one month and no one return phone call or email. It was
heart wrenching to watch the man I love struggle with his ability to support
his family. In my eyes he was still the man I loved, I knew he had it in him to
be that man again and no matter what I was going to be here with him forever.
About a month ago we got the most devastating news ever. The
landlord we had taken crap from the last 3years sold the house we were living
in. The new owners were house flippers and wanted us out in 45 days. I remember
standing out there when they showed up at my door, I was frozen in place, it
took all my strength to nod yes and mumble answers to their questions. When
they left and I walked in the house, I just started weeping, I couldn’t stop I
couldn’t even let the words escape my mouth. We were going to be homeless once
again. That was about 30 days ago, we
have 30 more days till we are out again. If I thought that finding a place for
6 people was hard before, finding one for 9 was mission impossible. We have
recently found a mobile home that would keep us in the area but we have to get
rid of one of the family pets. That makes a harder situation regrettably sad.
But at this point it’s the only place that hasn’t turned us down so we have to
take it.
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We have in fact found a place since I wrote this, its small but it will be ours and the risk of this happening to us again is zero. But in efforts to help make the move easier I have started making crafts to help us earn the money to move. I have no more excuse, no shame and I can say that we need all the help we can get. What I ask is that you share this, share my Jars By Lisa page. I believe in making things happen and this is how I'm doing it. So while yes there is a donation tab on my blog page, I'd love to make something for anyone who wants to help.
The support I've gotten from my friends has been enormous and I love you all for this. I hope that one day I can turn the tide through all we have suffered.
