I used to teach high school. I've been laid off two years. My unemployment ran out.
During the years my husband and I were both earning, I found and bought a five bedroom three bedroom house. It was November, 2001. I was really scared. I thought things were going to get worse, and I have four kids. They were 22 years old, 20 years old, sons, and 17, 14, daughters.
My oldest daughter and her husband, their baby boy, my oldest son and his wife, and their dog, my youngest daughter, and her dog, all live with me. And my husband and our dog.
I can't find a fukknn job and it's fukknn sickening. My kids pay the bills. They are all employed. Underemployed, considering their degrees. But when the shit hit the fan for us, my husband sat down with them and told them we couldn't cover the nut. They all came here when they took pay cuts and hours cut, and stay here for their dad and I.
My house has become like a small village. The women tend to congregate in the nursery at night to hold the baby for awhile. The guys are into football season. Everybody spends time holed up too... we have cable and wifi because my son and daughter in law have full time jobs. They don't earn enough to live in an apartment though, and make car payments. Even if I were working, they would have to live with us, at least until they saved awhile.
My son in law is fully qualified to be a fireman but he can't get an interview. Nothing. He has skills though, and lays carpet and tile with a friend when he can. The work is sporadic but at least he brings in some money. I bring in negative zero.
He is generous with his bud and I'm high right now on his dime. He also grows audacious plants every season, keeps the lawn mowed, and the house wood trim paint is never peeling even around the upstairs bedroom windows. He is an alcoholic but he stopped drinking vodka. He drinks a lot of beer and he's a happy guy so hey. I got my own problems. We know we all do.
I'm not going to blog about everyone else. You get the idea. My family has gone through some drama, gotten past it. Now we have circled the wagons. Between eight of us, there are six bachelors degrees, but if we didn't all live together under one roof we would all be without a roof at all. We are all scared about the way our lives are turning out. Inside this house, the eight of us, plus our three dogs, are together because we need each other.
Don't be ashamed of living with your parents. The economy is causing a famine in the middle class.
Huddle up, children.
We used to all have jobs and earned our degrees worth of money. We had vacations, nice dinners out, a lot of fun.
Now we are all broke. But pooling our resources, we have an air conditioned house to live in, and television and wifi, dependable cars, hot showers, and something in the refrigerator. We always eat at home, even if it's a sandwich, it's better than nothing.
It's a cruel muthrfkkn world.