Just Work: Just Rewards?

It was a bad day when I stopped saving for my daughter's college tuition and started focusing on paying down our monthly debt. Somehow, in the span of a few short years, we went from being a two-income family with health insurance, a home, and life savings to being bankrupt, uninsured, and worried about how to pay for our next meal.

I used to feel sorry about our situation, but now I know that our story is larger than just my family. It's the story of millions of people in this country who are falling through the cracks of a flawed system. The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way.

Seven years ago, my husband, daughter and I were living the American Dream. My husband had a good job at a steel company that provided us with quality health insurance. We had purchased a home in Spokane, WA, where we built a full size nursery for my child care business. My daughter was beginning to set her sights on college. We weren't millionaires, but we had what we needed and we were happy.

Then everything changed. In the spring of 2001, my husband Mike was crushed by a 700-pound piece of metal while on the job. Overnight, he went from being strong and self-sufficient to becoming a house-bound invalid who must rely on others for basic care. While still recovering, Mike lost his job and we lost our health insurance.

At first, we adjusted to a downsized version of our lives. Now the sole provider for my family, I started working a second job as a massage therapist to supplement our income. We got used to pinching pennies and debating every purchase. And we prayed that the medical expenses would slow down, that my husband would get healthier and that someday life would get back to normal.

What I didn't know was that this was the new normal. Before long, I started having heart problems. Who knows -- maybe it was worrying about Mike's health, fighting with his old bosses, or just the stress of it all. I stopped asking the "why" question along time ago. Before I knew it, after multiple heart surgeries, I had more than $250,000 of medical bills, numerous unpaid mortgage payments and mounting debt. With no other options left, we cleaned out our retirement savings and my daughter's college fund. In the end, we had to file bankruptcy. We lost our house and I lost my business.

I know this all sounds unreal -- more like a soap opera than the kind of tragedy that happens to actual people. I used to joke that we overslept one morning and missed the American Dream.

But the problem is that a lot of families seem to be having the same nightmare. I keep reading about layoffs, outsourcing, sub-prime mortgages and foreclosures. While those at the top enjoy substantial pay raises every single year, the real working people of this country can't get a raise to keep up with inflation. The cost of gas, food, housing, utilities, and education keep surging, and health care has become sick care for the majority of Americans. In fact, more than 46 million Americans (including at least 8 million children) don't have any health care at all.

A hard working family like ours shouldn't have to lose everything because of a sudden illness or injury, not in the richest country in the world. But over time, our leaders have forsaken average American workers. For too many people, a winning lottery ticket is the best chance we have for financial security and retirement planning. We have put blind faith in the market and the luck of good fortune, and we have lost some of our dignity along the way.

I still consider myself one of the fortunate ones. After all, I still have a roof over my head - even if it's smaller and not my own. Every day that I get to wake up and see my beautiful daughter is a good day. I've been able to work part-time, and I am about to start a heart support group for women that I know will help me stay committed to my own wellness. Soon, I plan to rejoin our union's campaign to get a decent raise for Washington state child care providers. All of these things keep me hopeful.

I've learned that you have to overlook the bad things in life, and just focus on the things that you can control. My story -- our story -- is the story of a growing threat to the American Dream, but we can control how the story ends. It's time to re-commit to the values of opportunity that made this country great and return to the days when there were just rewards for honest hard work.

The author can be heard across national airwaves this weekend as she gives the weekly Democratic radio address.

Just Work is a series presented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to give a voice to working people to discuss their daily struggles to balance work, afford life and participate in a more just society. SEIU welcomes submissions to Just Work! Please send your story (800 words or less) to [e-mail].

About SEIU: The 1.9 million-member SEIU is the fastest-growing union in North America. SEIU members are winning better wages, health care, and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers, not just corporations and CEOs, benefit from today's global economy.