Jobless? You'll Be Down but You'll Get Back Up

Happy post #Memorial Day. For many, it’s back to work after a long weekend. For the millions newly #unemployed, #jobless, & #furloughed, it’s a different situation. It’s for you, I share the story of my father’s job loss.

The year was 1979, in the midst of what was then the worst post-war recession. I was 14. He was a single dad after a difficult divorce and messy child custody battle, getting sole custody of my brother, little sister and me. My dad worked nights and often traveled for work. He was at the top of his earnings, highest rated in his field. He had just remarried. For his first wedding anniversary, I had planned a small surprise party for him and our new stepmom. It wasn't much - but I was proud I had earned enough baby sitting money to have a neighbor buy two bottles of champagne that I hid in the vegetable drawer in the fridge.

Instead, my dad came home early from work that night, laid off due to a change in business, one week before Thanksgiving. He cried that night, only the second time in my life I had seen him cry. He swirled a glass of Johnny Walker, black, and muttered he would never make that kind of money again. I had to call his friends to break the news but also to say that the small party was still happening. He needed their support, even though he was sad and felt like a failure. He drew no comfort that other top people were fired a week later - one newspaper called it “the Thanksgiving massacre.” Our stepmother, only a few years out of college had never found a new job after moving to NJ, so the financial burden was all on my dad. Unemployed, he worried about losing custody of us and losing his new wife. It was a difficult few months, but I refer to that time as our richest Christmas, even though money wise, it was one of our poorest. It took six months and we had to leave NJ, but my dad eventually found a better job.

It became his opportunity to do work he loved with greater success than he ever dreamed possible.

I know many of you are hurting right now and anxious about the future. I can only say, hang in there. I'm thinking of you and suspect you will find that you are stronger than you realized.