You can find and read Part 1 Here
I was 16 and he was 20 and as you can imagine my parents weren't very happy. We dated for 6 months and decided to get married. So, of course, my parents did what any parent would do, they sent me back to Germany to visit my family on an open-ended ticket. As the time grew closer for me to come back for my senior year in high school I realized that my parents had no intentions of bringing me back anytime soon. I will spare you the long hours of dialogue that transpired between various people to get me back to the states. I did finally return back, what seemed like an eternity was in reality only 8 weeks. I finished high school and was married 9 days later. After almost a year of blissful marriage hubby had a work accident and needed shoulder surgery, we then started our own business, I became a homemaker, and shortly after that, I gave birth to our first son, who was joined by his brother 3 years later. During this time hubby had another shoulder surgery, but things were coming along or that's what we thought. We lived in a nice house and my family was starting to grow. Once again life happened, my honey was in an ATV accident. With some physical therapy and pain medication, he was able to resume his work. We started digging out of our medical bills and for a while life was back to what one would consider normal. Over the next 8 years, hubby had to have 3 back surgeries as a result of the accident and also 2 more shoulder surgeries. We also added 3 daughters to our family, to others our life seemed perfect.
The pressure to provide and the pain my husband suffered led him down the path of various injections and pain doctors who took him down the road of pain medication. He used the meds so he could work, which in turn caused him more pain. This started a downward spiraling cycle, in an attempt to alleviate his pressures I went back to work after 15 years of raising our children. Our perfect life was falling apart right before our eyes. This is when the story takes a darker turn. At this point, my husband has developed an addiction to pain meds and his current Doctor is prescribing him a boatload of medication. It was also at this point that the migraines I used to suffer as a child had returned. So I went to my Doctor and after endless tests, it was determined that I had a herniated disc in my neck. I worked at a shipping facility loading and unloading boxes, so surgery was not an option since I could not afford to take time off from work. So I too started down the pain pill road. Life became what I call monotone, the joy just disappeared, I no longer lived my life instead I only existed. If I would not have had my 5 wonderful children in my life I would no longer be here, it was for them that I kept going trying to make their world okay. My biggest regret in life is the fact that my children had to live with 2 parents that were barely hanging on. My oldest was 15, my youngest had just turned 3. I would like to take a minute thank my children for not giving up on us, for stepping up and helping to keep things going. It was 3 long and dark years, I know it wasn't easy for them. Realizing that life could not go on like this, the decision was made and my husband went to Rehab. He was released with medication 10 days later. That's when he helped me to kick the habit. We haven't touched one of those pills in 7 years now and never will again. Our lives started to drastically change I started a new job as a forklift operator and we started to piece our life back together. There were hard times, but things started to look much better. As clarity came back into my life I noticed myself being pulled toward the homeless I saw on our streets, I could feel their pain and despair. One day as I was driving past a store I noticed a man by the road holding a sign, I pulled into the parking lot parked my car and walked over to him. I remember how cold his hands felt as I handed him some money, so I started talking to him. In that conversation my eyes opened to how we are all the same, going through life doing the best, we knew how. That man taught me a great lesson, he taught me to be grateful for what I had and he helped me see just how much I truly had. I started to look at my life through different eyes I became more minimalistic, investing less time in things and putting more time into relationships. I once again had found joy in my life. I've learned a few things throughout my life, The most important is that there is without a doubt a God; you don't find yourself, you make yourself; helping others heals the soul; miracles still happen every day; always pick people over things; knowing the truth is more important than protecting your feelings; low expectations make for a happy life.
I'm sorry it took so long to get this out, it was not easy for me to put myself out there. I didn't write this for sympathy but as a story of overcoming trials. Hubby and I will be celebrating 29 years of marriage this year, our second son is married so now we have 4 daughters, and we have a close happy family. My oldest is now 25 and my youngest is 13, we have all come through many trials and I'm sure there are many more ahead, but we have the strength of our family and our God to guide our way. Hope you enjoyed. God bless.
We will see where life takes us from here. United States Citizenship? We will find out. I'm planning on posting the events and travels to come. Maybe even a daily quote or things I find inspiring. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, upvote, resteem and follow always appreciated.
I want to thank my family members who are on steem and showed me this great new platform!
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