I am not one of the affluent of society, but we are comfortable.
It wasn’t always like that. As a young mother I used welfare, and food stamps. I didn’t use WIC in those first years. I had two pregnancies almost back to back. Divorced. Never a penny received in child support.
Tried it again, had three more children. We had no money then either. I worked full time, but this time I used WIC. It was what got me through. That one didn’t work either. Divorced.
Solo parent with 5 kids. I scrimped, I scraped, I lost my home. Relocated (with the help of family because I didn’t have two extra pennies to scrape together).
Didn’t get a dime of support from that one either.
Moved, landed a great job. We didn’t have a lot of extra with all those mouths, but I had enough. We got by. We were happy.
There are plenty of days when I wonder how the heck I made it through. I’m still not sure, but we did.
Now the kids are grown, and they are all successful human beings. I’m so proud of each and every one of them.
Anyway, that’s the backstory.
Saw a post on social media this week. A friend was in a bind and sent a prayer out to the universe. I was in a position to answer that prayer.
My daughter was in tears the other day, why isn’t important- but it was a financial issue and I was able to help.
It felt so freaking good to pay it forward. Just a simple here. No expectation to return or payback.
Sometimes you just have to help for the sake of helping.
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Marina Skynnar- Author 