One Day At A Time

On Monday, Sept. 19, 2011 when I came to work, I was asked to sit down and read a letter from the General Manager of the Northern Lakes Cooperative in Hayward, WI. It said that my thirty one years at the company were appreciated and that my job as Assistant Manager was terminated.  I would be allowed to worked through Sept. 30 and they would pay out my vacation I earned this year.  I would recieve one week of severance pay.

I am 58 years old and suddenly my Co-op life is over. I have been a part of the Coop since I was seven years old. It took a few seconds to drop into place but I had expected this for several years and it was a sort of relief to get it over with…I would be free to pursue a life of my own.  Then during the day there were those moments where I realized how I would miss the other employees I lived with most of my adult life and the customers who depended on me. In the afternoon I cleaned out my desk drawers for the new guy. It began to almost feel good. I would be able to finish my book, do some more writing, study and put more time into The Woodland Church and spend some time with my kids.

But then coincidentally my credit card company sent me an email that my credit card limit would be cut to the current balance and I thought about the financial issues.  I would have next to nothing on unemployment and no health insurance.  I worked for so many years at the Coop just for the insurance because my daycare and car expenses took my wages. It gave me a night of tossing and turning. Fortunately Ron’s cancer and my Lupus are both in remission because we take care of ourselves. The medications we take will be difficult but we will figure it out!  Ron and I agreed that we have been poor in the past and we can do it again. God is watching over us.