Down, Not Out: Unemployed And Happier Than Ever
Dixie Redfearn of Nevada City, Calif. wrote the Huffington Post to say her 30-year journalism career ended when she lost her job more than four months ago. "I'm 61 -- still too young for Social Security -- and could not afford COBRA, even at 65 percent off," she wrote. "My husband is a retired teacher. I have had cancer twice and am now uninsured."
But Redfearn isn't fazed, even though her job search has been futile. She wrote that she's relaxed 1,000 percent, gardened to her heart's content, read two or three books every week, and stepped up her fitness time. "In fact," she wrote, "I may be happier than I've ever been."
The Huffington Post called her up and asked her if she really is that happy.
I think I am. I'm at a good place in my life. I've done a lot of things. My husband and I have four children and nine grandchildren. Not having really had a significant break from work ever, it took about three months to sort of detox from the daily grind.
At the three-month point I sort of felt like, lighter. Emotionally, physically, mentally lighter. I felt like I'd made peace with everything. I was kind of in a group. A lot of my friends who were retired, the first thing they did when they were retired, they cleaned every closet in the house. I did that. We all have too much stuff.
How much unemployment insurance do you have left?
It currently says on my check 52 weeks from March. I think I probably will get an extension just because of the way the economy seems. I don't see anything looking up. Do you?
Not really. Do you worry at all?
I don't worry. Isn't that weird? I feel like maybe I should. We've scaled back a little bit.
What about health insurance?
Why am I not worried about not having health insurance? I just feel like it's going to be OK. When I had health insurance I was paying a little over $200 every two-week paycheck and my copays for prescriptions were $30. When you don't have insurance, places like KMart and Wal-Mart and Target all offer generic medicine at a hugely reduced price. I'm getting a prescription for less than my copay was when I was paying all these hundreds of dollars for insurance.
Don't you ever just know that things are going to be OK? When you've had children and grandchildren and illness you just have a different perspective on life. I just feel really OK.
You said you had cancer twice. What happened?
1994 was a bad year. My husband's stepfather died and I was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma in January, malignant breast cancer in July. And then in the midst of all that, there was a water surge and our house flooded. I came home from work and I could hear water running. The second story collapsed onto the first story. One of our son's in law was managing a hotel not too far from where we lived, so we stayed there. Meanwhile, I was on chemo, sick, and bald. The melanoma -- I had two surgeries and felt like they got clear margins. The breast cancer was a Stage II and it spread to my lymph nodes. You don't ever beat breast cancer. They'll say you're cancer free if it's been five years, but breast cancer can come back anytime. It usually comes back in the brain or bones.
But you're not concerned.
No, I'm not.
HuffPost readers: Found the bright side of unemployment? Or are you in a tough spot without a clue what to do? Either way, we want to hear about it -- email arthur@huffingtonpost.com.
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First Posted: 07- 9-09 02:10 PM | Updated: 08- 9-09 05:12 AM