Welcome to Part Two
https://steemit.com/homeless/@matthewtiii/how-my-family-climbed-out-of-homlessness
Link to part one if you didn't read it.
Every Form of Refuge Has a Price
We moved into my wife's friend's house, a smallish three bedroom duplex with five people already living in it. Now eleven people, the house was very crowded, and I knew from the start that it wouldn't last long. I was right, we stayed for seven weeks, the tension getting tougher with each passing day. Then it just got to be too much and we decided camping was our best option. The campgrounds were open now and my wife and her friend were on the verge of a falling out.
Amazingly though, we had not been able to save any money while staying at the duplex. We were the only ones buying food the entire time and our foodstamps only lasted three weeks. We were also giving her friend money to offset the water and electric we used. It devastated our budget and we didn't think we would ever get enough to move to South Carolina. The deadline we had set was approaching fast and our stress was at its highest since becoming homeless.
Time For Some Sacrifice
We had to find a way to save money, so we decided to forgo the cost of camping and stay in the Suburban instead of incurring the cost. Camping, either pay or free would be too much and we didn't think paying that much would be to our benefit. We had three and a half weeks til we were making our journey and I was determined to get us out of Colorado. Our deadline was July 6th. The kids would be out of school by then and my wife would be done working at her bus driving job for the summer.So, we found ourselves back in the truck for the duration. We showered at the YMCA, who let us do it free. We stayed in the same parking lot at first, then one morning, the police woke us up and told us we couldn't stay there any more. We stayed at a TA truck stop for a few days and a bit outside of a WalMart parking lot( the cops kicked people out of the WalMart lot) for the rest of the time. The weather had turned warm, so it wasn,t that bad.
Tragedy and Hope
Sometime during the second week of being back in the Suburban, my wife got terrible news. Her favorite uncle and my favorite member of her family, who had battled cancer for years, was taking a turn for the worse and the doctors said he didn't have much time.
Her uncle Bob was an amazing man. He was an engineer turned entrepeneur and a self made millionare. He remodeled his whole house inside and out and truly made it his dream home. He was kind and loving and there is no person he knew that doesn't feel his loss deeply. His favorite quote was "make the most of the best, and the least of the worst". He lived and died by those words and he made a mark that cannot be erased. His funeral was set for July 6, our date to leave Colorado.
The reason we chose July 6th was because I got paid on the 4th(no banks open) and my wife got her check on the 2ond. We would leave before we had to spend too much in Colorado.
I had given my notice at work three weeks before we left and all the maintenance staff had quit except me. My boss was beside herself trying to find a replacement. Finally, three days before I left, she rehired one of the old guys who had quit. My last day there was July 4th. I got off just in time to get to thw fireworks display we had chosen to go too. I took my next to last paycheck with me and gave my boss instructions on mailing the check to my mother in law. She would forward it to wherever we landed in South Carolina.
Our last day in Colorado was filled with hope for our future and tinged with tears for dear Uncle Bob. We attended the standing room only funeral. We said our goodbyes to her family, loaded up the car, and made our way to the south east.
Stay tuned for part three coming soon