My dad was a banker for 30 some odd years. Even if he wasn’t technically working in a bank for all of those years, he was the financial go-to person in pretty much whatever company he was working for. He’s an extraordinarily patient and methodical person, so spending his entire career working with numbers and then teaching other people how to also work with numbers was a pretty good fit for him. He was really good at his job even if it didn’t make his soul sing. He probably would’ve been happier being a high school history teacher, but he fell into banking and there he stayed.
I mention this because he taught me about budgeting from very early on. When I returned home from my summer working on Mackinac Island he sat down with me and all the money I had saved and we worked out a budget for a new car and for me to move out of my parents’ house and support myself while I looked for a job. He’s done this process with me several times over the years for different things. And six years ago when my husband lost his job and I couldn’t find work and The Boy was a newborn, he and my mom swooped in and bailed us out of certain financial death. I still have a hard time thinking about that as it embarrasses me so.
I help organizations manage their money for a living for all purposes. Finding, writing and helping to track and manage grant money are a huge budget responsibility and I do it really well. I love working with budgets and financials.
Which is why it’s so hard for me to admit that we met with a bankruptcy lawyer yesterday. We are to a point that we can’t hide from it anymore and it’s time to get serious about our options. He recommended a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy also known as A Clean Slate. Now we just have to figure out how to pay the lawyer up front for his services to guide us through the process. Which would almost add insult to injury if the guy hadn’t been so dang nice.
1 comment:
When I first met your dad 40 years ago in Ft. Collins he wanted to be a writer of fiction..........that was his soul....his love, his life. then we got married and his notion of security arose in his head and his heart of hearts took a back seat to that security so that he could provide me with a good life.....and look where that has led us......sometimes following one's heart is not a bad thing because even if the success you'd imagined does not become a reality at least you listened to your heart and acted upon that listening. Now your dad will never come to his soul opening and that makes me very sad.
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