| unbroken |
04-11-2007 08:18 AM |
Art, I am not in your shoes, so I won't try to act like I am but I have a similar story. I am an airline pilot, and worked for years as a flight instructor making less than 13K a year, while waiting tables to pay for flight training myself, and the time it would take to get hired at a major. Well I started flying at 21, got my first "Paying" job doing it, 8K/year when I was 27, then did 2 1/2 years instructing for about 13K/year. I racked up 72K in student loans getting my degree in 3 years, then finally saw the inside of my first jet. I flew corporate for a year, at 22K, flying very wealthy people all over the place, and had 11 days off the whole time.
Finally at 28 I was hired at American Eagle as a first officer on an ATR 72. (72 passenger turbo prop) at 24K/year (you see a pattern yet?) I got married, and started a small deck business in Dallas to pay the bills so I could pursue my dream. I saved enough to buy my first house, 1400 sq feet, but it was mine. I bought my first boat. 2000 baja hammer with a 454 MPI. Thought I was the king. In June of 2000 I finally got the call I had worked my whole life for, an interview with Delta Air Lines. June 15th, one day before my 31's B-day, I interviewed and heard the words, Congratulations, you just won the lottery welcome aboard.
I started september 18th 2000. Man I was the king, I made it. I was a 727 flight engineer, making 36K and on a years probation. WOW what would I do with all that money. LOL (remember, I still owed 72K in student loans). I found out a month later my wife was pregnant. 3 weeks later we lost it.:eek: :( A few months go by and she's pregnant again. Again, we lost it. This went on several more times. FInally we gave up, and decided we would have dogs. I was about to start my second year at Delta and my pay was going to jump to nearly 6 figures. Finally, I could pay off my debts, and have some fun. I upgraded to my current ride, 2002 Baja 302. A few weeks later, the wife was prego again. The doc said don't get excited, it will probably not work out. Well he's 5 now! and looks like his Daddy. (I'm hoping he'll outgrow that though Life was great.
Then one morning in September 2001, I awoke to the phone ringing, and my dad asking where I was, and if I was flying today. He told me to turn on the news, and as i did, I saw a 767 fly right into tower 1 at the World Trade Center . What a tragedy. Within a week, Delta started furloughs, (layoffs). My day came on April 1 2002. My dream job was gone. I had a 4 month old boy , a mortgage, a large boat payment, and no income. I decided at that point, I would dive into my decking/constr. business, and I managed to make ends meet. Somehow I would survive. August came, and after an accidental phone call from speed dial, I learned that my wife had a boyfreind, and they were having an arguement on the other end about who was going to get the cocaine for that evening. UUUUHHHH what I filed for divorce, wound up with custody of my son, who lost his mom for 6 months while she decided what was more important to her. (He was about 8 months old). A few months went buy, and at 3:00am, my caller ID said "Boat Storage". UH OH, there had been a fire, and long story short, 28K worth of damage to my new boat. The next day some idiot rearended me in my truck, (my work truck)! 3 weeks later, alone at 11:00 getting ready for bed, a terrible pain ripped through my right lower back. I thought I was gonna die. I drove my self to the hospital, I have no idea how, and it turns out I had kidney stones. I was fine after a few days of intense pain. A few days later my aunt lost her battle with cancer, and my mom was admitted to the hospital for an emergency triple bypass. SHe pulled through, but nearly died.
Hey atleast I had my business still that was going well, I was keeping everything paid for. One night in my driveway, 2 punks stole every tool out of my truck, and got in my garage and cleaned me out of about 13K worth of tools. My lively hood was gone. I'll cut it off here. Long story. I'm still here brother, I was recalled at Work, although with a 45% paycut, and loss of my retirement, I just got engaged to the woman of my dreams and I have a new house that I can look out my front windows and see the lake
The moral, others share your misfortune. You are not alone, and from reading this entire post, you have friends, even if you wouldn't recognize them if they walked up to you. It doesn't matter how hard life hits you, it only matters that you keep hitting back. Keep swinging ART! Aim for the fence, because you just never know when your gonna knock it over the fence.
I'm rooting for ya!
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