Money has never been my strong suit. I know how to work hard, but I am not good at saving or planning for anything. I am currently in debt to the tune of 3 zillion dollars.
Antonio had a job where he worked to repair and rebuild an old storage facility. The money was good. We liked having it. The job was supposed to be temporary. Once the place was rebuilt and remodeled, they weren’t going to need him anymore. The job lasted almost 2 years, and then it ended.
I was happy about this for a few reasons. 1) Antonio was working in ridiculous heat, outside, in the middle of summer. 2)The threat of the job ending loomed all the time and took a toll on his spirit. 3) I needed help with the small man child Dan. My husband left at 6:30am and returned home at 6:30pm. I didn’t realize how much his absence was getting to me.
We figured with unemployment, we would be fine. I think we saw 1 week of unemployment come to our bank account. We planned for this money to arrive weekly. It did not. I do not know why. Both of us were getting really anxious. We had used extra money to pay down bills for my gall bladder surgery, Dan’s hospital stay, and we paid money towards credit cards. I was TRYING to be smart with money. It was not smart. Thinking we were going to be getting some money from child support and from unemployment, I didn’t leave us with enough in savings to cover things.
I wasn’t wary enough to be too nervous, but the anxiety was creeping. I wanted to utilize the time I had with him home wisely. I started working on trying to clean out our storage unit so I could use his muscles to get things done while he was home. I messaged my friend Sharon because I wanted her to have my piano. It is taking up the most room in the storage unit. Sharon began sharing with me some of her anxiety. We commiserated back and forth. Two days later, she asked if Antonio would like to come and work with her husband at his restaurant. It was an out of the blue gift.
Antonio told me he had been offered a job moving freight out at the airport. I wasn’t sure what he really wanted to do, and it was his choice to make. I worried about his body wearing out. I worried about him working in the heat again. I worried about him working late hours. He decided to try things out at the restaurant. The freight job would be there if things didn’t work out.
Last Tuesday, he went to work at his new job. After work, I picked him up. We are a one car family. He usually takes the train, but it was going to be a 2 hour commute on the train. I remembered how much I really needed him to be home with Dan and cringed at the thought of losing him for those 4 hours of travel.
When I went in the restaurant to pick him up, his new boss talked to me about his schedule. He asked, “Would 8a-4pm be okay?” I was shocked. I figured since it was a restaurant, he’d get night shifts and odd hours. I replied, “Tuesday through Saturday?”
His boss replied, “Sure!”
I was in shock. Full time? This was too good to be true. I replied, “He has his son Jaxon every other weekend…”
He cut me off, “Tuesday through Saturday, except when he has his son on Saturday.”
I felt like I was floating. The boss told Antonio to take some food home to share with us. It was incredible. But, this was still Antonio’s decision. On the way home, I tried to get a feel for his mood after his first day.
He grinned. He sighed. “I really like Keni. He’s a great boss!”
“Do you like the work?”
“Yeah! I’m learning a lot. He knows his stuff and everybody is really nice.”
Every day he’s worked, he comes home happier than the day before. He is working hard, but there’s this lightness about him because he’s working at a job he likes with people he respects.
I was worried about the car, but I didn’t need to be. DeAnne, Antonio’s mother, called me on Wednesday and asked me if she could sell us her old car. I felt overwhelmed by her support. With the second car, Antonio would be able to get to work within 30 minutes and be home.
Last week, I wasn’t fully cognizant of the creeping anxiety. I have a tendency to ignore the pending doom because usually, there’s nothing I can do about it. Because of a friend reaching out, Antonio has a new job that he loves. Because of a caring mother, we have a new car. Currently, we have .01 cents in our bank account. But, we have food, gas, clothing, shelter, and patience to make it to pay day on Wednesday. We can live on a penny!
More important to me than money, I have a happy husband. He is energized and enthusiastic. He is loving and tender. He has a light in his step and in his eyes. I am so grateful to Sharon and Keni for the gift and the miracle of my happy husband.
The food is pretty awesome too. 😀
The Daily Observations of Genesis Eve Garcia 