When a tornado sweeps through the town it leaves nothing but rubble and debris behind. When a house becomes ablaze and the firefighters can barely put it out all we are left to see is the ashes of what was once there. Sometimes, our life resembles the debris of a tornado or the ashes of a fire and we start to wonder how can we rebuild, how will we be able to make anything out of this mess?
When, my divorce ended and I realized that with him went all my money and ability to care for my two children under 5; especially since he wiped out my bank account and removed my access to his, I definitely sat for a while trying to figure out how or if things would ever turn around. All I could see was dark skies, gray clouds and rain pouring down on me even though it was the middle of summer in Sunny California. I immediately applied for welfare, because I had to feed my kids, but I knew that no matter what they gave me it wasn’t going to be enough for us to live.
We barely survived on what they gave me. After a few months of separating from my husband, I found myself with no place to live. I was now homeless, jobless and full of despair. As much as I wanted to tell myself that one day things would get better, one day things would turn around it was really hard to believe that when I was sleeping on a futon in my mother’s living room or staying in the hotels that welfare gave me vouchers for.
by Ms. Jennifer Pink
RISING FROM THE ASHES..my story