by Michael Maffattone

Created on: August 17, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Life is pretty amazing. The simple fact of not knowing where you will be at any given time can be a challenge for the human mind. Just think about it for a minute. We all think we know where our future is going to take us. We make plans, an outline if you will, regarding our education, professional career, and personal lives. We cannot factor in the unknown. That's why it's an outline. Some are able to adjust when we run into one of life's obstacles and some are not. We try to plan for things like job loss, and unforeseen illness but again, it's the X Factor. Using myself as an example, I never thought in a million years that I would be sitting here writing about the major upheavals that have occurred in my life. The thing is, I am not unique and currently, I have a whole new perspective with regards to frustration, anxiety, worthlessness, and depression. But, I digress.

About 25 years ago, I became a dad. What an incredible feeling. After the euphoria wears off, you begin to really think about the future if you have not done so already. The position I had held for the company I worked for was in jeopardy. As a matter of fact, the whole company was going in the dumper. This was a place that I had given 17 years to and, for the first time in my life, I foresaw the inevitable. My wife was a stay at home mom doing what all moms do; taking care of the kids. I came home that night and discussed the situation with her. I told her what I feared was going to take place and it was coming like a freight train. "Find a job, any job", I said. Two days after she was hired, I was let go. As a matter of fact, my boss, who was also my friend, couldn't lay me off! For weeks, I would ask him, "What's wrong"? Believe it or not, I had to force it out of him. He just couldn't do it. We were that close. For the first time in my life, I was unemployed. It was like a bad dream. It didn't seem real. I was in a state of depression for about 2 months but eventually, found work in my trade (automotive restyling) for another company. From that point on, my philosophy on life was "Everything in life is temporary", it doesn't matter what it is or for how long. You move on. This brings me to Chapter 2.
Seven years came and went since my "bump in the road". By now, I was doing ok, my wife had moved up in the company she was working for, and my daughter had adjusted to the fact that Mom had to work. Then my wife became ill. I had just left work and received a call from her describing what had

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