Within 24 Hours | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Within 24 Hours | Previous Challenge Entry
By Robin Culbreath
08/12/06
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I remember having such a wonderful morning. My husband and I had enjoyed a night of passion, my children slept through the night, and at breakfast, my husband had cooked a wonderful quiche. I got dressed singing to myself about my wonderful morning and went to work. While I was working, I received numerous compliments about my clothing and my general attitude and then…it happened. I was called into my manager’s office to find out that my job no longer existed. I was no longer needed. How that hurt. Here I was just beginning to think I was here to stay and then this. How could I face my family, my friends, and my co-workers? What would I tell them? How would it look?

I began to clear out my desk and then after making sure I had everything that belonged to me, I looked for my keys. I could not find them. I always knew where they were but somehow they were missing. After calling my husband, who I was trying to avoid talking to at the time, I asked him to bring me the other set of keys. He began to tell me that he had just purchased a new vehicle, and that he had just put away some money into an account for our vacation. I did not have the heart to tell him that I had just lost my job. After bringing my keys, I told him that I was let go. He was furious with me. I began to think to myself; hey this is not my fault. It could have happened to anyone. But it didn’t happen to just anyone, it happened to me.

How could I go on? Here I was thinking I had just ruined our family savings and our upcoming vacation that we both deserved. I looked at my husband and said, "I need some time to think, to sort things out." He looked back at me and said, "You have all the time you need." The kids and me are leaving. He told me he could not take it anymore. That this was the first job I had found in years and now because of me, I had lost it. He no longer wanted to be with me and certainly did not think I could afford to take care of our two small children. I was devastated. How could he do this to me? I gave him years of love and dedication.

I did not know where to turn or who to talk to. What was I to do? I could have tried to fight him but how and with what? All of our savings was gone, he took care of that and the bank account we shared together, he closed. I sat in the house crying, trying to figure out what had happened to me. Is this what I deserved? I stood by him while he was in college, eating sandwiches and drinking milk. I never once thought while he was not bringing in any income that I would leave him. I sat there in the quiet of the house crying and wondering what my next move was. I could not eat, sleep, or even think of anything positive. I beat myself up and told myself that I was not a good wife and mother.

After pondering what I would do, I went into the bathroom and found some sleeping pills that I had once used when I was scared of being in the house by myself. I looked at the bottle and then poured some out into my hand. I wanted this pain to end and the only way I knew it would, was to sleep it away. It was at this point that I knew….I was in my valley.

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