Home > Creative Writing > Reflections
Created on: November 30, 2007
When I was a young girl, (4-5 years old) my parents hit a financial brick wall of sorts. This was during the "glorious days" of Ronald Reagan's Presidency. My parents were both working for the same company, a company that had massive lay-offs, with little notice. Both of my parents lost their jobs at the same time. We were living in an area that was considered a suburb of D.C., and was highly populated. With the recession in full swing, there were no jobs to be found. We ended up losing our apartment, and had nowhere, and I mean nowhere to go. A good friend of my father's who worked with him, and had also lost his job, said that he knew of a place where we could go. He had owned some land down in Southern VA, and we could all live there like one big happy family. So, my parents, with nothing better on their plates, decided to pack up what we could, gather the money for gas, and head down there. Things would surely be better there.
When we get down there, it turned out that this area was quite remote. The properties were separated by great amounts of land, which was a welcome change from the city. It seemed as if we had entered "paradise". It was just a beautiful area all around. We pull into what my dad's friend called "the driveway", and anticipated what our new home was going to look like. We all look, and look, but see nothing. Dad's friend was the only one not looking, and it caught all of our attention. I looked up at him, and asked him where the new house was, and that was when he hit us with it. There was no house. He did in fact own the land, but he had never built on it. He had just taken us hundreds of miles away from our home, with the promise that we could start over, just to find out there was nowhere to start.
Here we were, in the middle of nowhere, with nowhere to go, and no way to get there even if we did. So, we had to "saddle up" and make the best of it. For the next several weeks, we all lived as a family in a tent. Things were crowded, but we made it work the best we could. We showered at a local camp ground, I made a couple of friends at the grounds, and my parents had managed to get me into the school in the area. My parents were unfortunately unable to find work down there either, and things were getting rough. We were to a point where we were fishing every day just to stay alive. There was no other food. I began to lose weight, and the neighbors, about a mile away, began to get curious about the people who lived so close, yet so far away.
One
Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:
Reflections: Poverty
by Aleta Kazadi
Poverty is a condition. It is a condition that blocks us from moving ahead. For many of us we have been poor
Poverty, well I am finally there. This morning I apologized as I scooped out plain macaroni to my family. A little bit of
by Alan Fernald
He couldn't have been more than seven-years old and yet there he was, sitting on the hood of my car with his squeegee in
I sit now in a beautiful home, surrounded by beautiful things. I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful child living
Poverty is much more complex than most of us realize. We recognize those who struggle day to day for food and shelter. We
View All Articles on: Reflections: Poverty
Featured Partner
Reason has partnered with Helium, giving you the chance to write for a cause. Browse Reason's featured titles, pick an issue and write! You can also donate your article earnings. Share what you know, learn new perspectives...more