Over the last 3 days, I have taken a mental vacation. Originally we were supposed to head out of town but lets back up to Friday. Friday started like any other school day with rushing around, Brian had texted me and asked if I wanted to meet up for coffee. I assumed we were talking weekend plans or something else surface level.
When he called, that is where the shock and lack of security started. He said his boss had called him and he had 30 days to transition out of his job. What?! I just sat there, before I knew it I was crying and was pretty much speachless. I was shocked, no warnings, no lead in just.....that's it. I was laid off due to a medical issue less than a year ago and we truly rely on Brian's income.
I don't want to get in the details, we're talking with a lawyer and there really is so much anger towards the company I am not ready to let it all out. But where we went wrong is relying on Brians job as security for our financial being. He'd been with the company 13 years, a manager for at least 7. We counted on him always having this position. In the past year we had been working on being debt free, using our savings to pay off debts. We've been working really hard at getting a brand new house. In the last 3 months we've invested the remainder of our savings in house and car repairs. We thought, we could build our savings up again since we've done this well to now.
It was like being hit by a truck, a wake up call saying there is no such thing as security when you rely on others. It really is up to us to create our own security. We had relied on a steady income for so long, we never even thought that we were using the sense of security with the job. I didn't know what to do, we decided we needed a couple days away. We packed up the car Saturday and were ready to head on out. Then, the car does not start. Seriously?! We spent more money on a car battery, we took it as a sign and stayed home. After my short self loathing and pity party I shut off the computer for the weekend.
Instead we enjoyed a weekend in, being lazy on the couch and taking the time to clean up the house. I worked on packing up my bags for Be a Good-Girl campaign to donate used goods to others. In the end, we are truly blessed. Our house mortgage is extremely lower than others here in the valley. Our kids are happy and healthy. There isn't anything we are "needing" right now and we know Brian can get a job very soon. I know that there is so much we are blessed with it's hard for me to not recognize that. I am glad I took the mental vacation even briefly. I plan on using the rest of the week to be proactive in so many things.
Have you lost a job? How did you deal with it?
