Going Without! A True Story

One hot and muggy summer in Florida, we were unable to keep our power on. We nickel and dimed the power company to death, and even had help from other agencies.

You see, my husband had lost his job due to an injury. It was of course, workman's comp, which right there tells you- not much of anything is going to happen. Especially since the Attorney he hired, seems to be unable to do, or get anything done either. He had been with his current job for over eight years, and now the income had stopped. Welfare cant help right off, because it is work comp, so basically it is a sit and wait kind of thing.

So you are now thinking- no big deal, its like camping. Well, a good majority of the camp sites have power, for you to hook up to. So it is nothing like camping.

Mind you, we have five children, and three adults living here. My husband, myself, and my best friend, who does have a job. So here we are, using candles, batteries and flash lights, and an outdoor smoker. We did this for six months. And then Thanksgiving rolls around, allegedly there are places-agencies that will help- Thanksgiving and Christmas are the time for giving right? Still no help. So we get a turkey, and all the fixings and put it in the cooker, even biscuits. Believe it or not, the meal did turn out.

Our family became very close- no TV, we read, we talked, and we played hide and go seek, and learned to make things work. The showers were cold, but after a day of all that heat, it was nice to cool off. We washed our laundry on a daily basis and hung it dry. We washed it in the plastic swimming pools, used our feet and hands, sort of like they did in the old days. It too, kept us cool.

Eventually we saved up for the nine hundred dollar deposit the electric company had to have. You see, the house has thirteen rooms, and eight people living in it. So that's right, our bills are not small!

It was only after that everything was paid and returned to normal, that people came crawling out of the wood work, saying they would help, they wanted to help, and they wish they had known. Even the kids' School said, "We wish we would've known, we could've helped." No, I think what they really meant was: "We wish we would've known, we could've called child services on you!" Don't worry, they were called anyways, the neighbors felt they needed involved, and being without Electricity was immoral. But! When you have food, are bathing, doing laundry and everything that you need to do- there is nothing child services can truly do. Oh, other than offer help- help they too- couldn't get for us!

But it was a nice, because we became a family again. We learned how to live without, and do without. We are strong people, and even stronger as a unit!

Since the power has been turned back on, our electric bill is small and measly, if that doesn't prove how we learned to live without it, nothing does. The bills went from five to eight hundred dollars a month to one hundred and fifty to two hundred. That is a big change!

So never assume that you can't live without something. We all adjust and make changes. You can do anything you set your mind to. And always remember, the only person you can count on, is yourself. The Government doesn't care, the neighbors just want someone to talk about- it is you that are the means to survival. You can do it!

But you will never know, until you try.....have faith in yourself AND your family! If they SEE your faith, they too- will have it!