I grew up in Warrensville Hts., Ohio, the son of a factory worker who had been at the General Motors Plant in Euclid since 1955. Born with only one kidney, he never drank alcohol except on special occasions once every blue moon or so. He never did drugs except for the ones prescribed by his doctor to combat the increasing decay of his one kidney, which eventually took his life. I mention this because my father was bringing home, by the 1980’s nearly $100,000 per year when you factor in his benefits. To be fair he also had a part time job as night time janitor at a bank. He did that for 20 years. He was forced to give all of that up in 1983 because his health had gotten too bad. He retired on disability. In 1986 he retired to Tucson Arizona where he lived in his dream home that he had built for him and my mother for six months till he died in November of that year.

I grew up with a decidedly privileged upbringing. Though I didn’t have spectacular grades in school, I managed to go to college and eventually landed a job in broadcasting, working at a television station in Tucson. I thought that I was working in the career that I would have for the next twenty to thirty years. But I did not count on my father’s death at the age of 59. In 1988 he was joined in death by my mother, whose Sickle Cell disease had finally claimed her life at the age of 56. She had been a stay-at-home mom for most of my life, only going to work after we had moved to Tucson.  

I was alone in a newly built house, in a city that I had just moved to, and at a job that I had just started. Because I had only been there for just under two years, I was not making much money as a master control operator. The independent TV station had financial difficulties as well. I eventually lost my job when the station went under. Over the years I bounced to another television station and even a radio station but none lasted very long.

To  make a long story short, I lost the house and because it was just built there was no equity in it and I barley made a few thousand dollars from its sell. I was 22 and very inexperienced. I also was battling depression. I sought help and ended up spending a month in the hospital for depression. When I got out I started working at the local Circle K where I met my future wife. She became pregnant and then disappeared from my life. We didn’t marry for another nine years.

I say all this to give you some context as to where I come from. I held several jobs over the years, but really made a career in retail after I moved back to Cleveland and found a job as a salesman of music gear and software.  I loved it and stayed with the company for a decade, eventually becoming the store manger. Unfortunately shortly after the company closed it’s doors. Since then I have worked at Target and CVS.
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 We had two more sons and while we have stayed at the same location for all of our married lives so far, that apartment have steadily decayed over the last 20 years. We have always had to contend with roaches and mice, but lately they have become almost uncontrollable, mostly because of landlords who don’t care about the property. I went from not having anything to worry about financially to having to worry about every little dime.