Confessions of a Welfare Brat...

My mother grew up with high hopes of a career as a stenographer/secretary. Then she married my dad, a Navy seaman, with little ambition beyond the Korean war. Mom was stricken with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 21 years. The disease progressed rapidly and Mom became completely disabled by the time she was in her late 20's. Dad left the Navy and took up drinking, drugs and gambling. I knew that he chased women too (he introduced me to one of his 'girlfriends'. He actually did work a full time job for about 4 years, as a janitor at the local movie theater. Mom was able to draw SSI because of her disability.

When Dad wasn't bringing home money, we were able to draw AFDC and food stamps. My Mom's parents helped out as much as possible financially. Christmas presents and school clothes were all courtesy of Grandma Creek. My Grandpa Creek was my hero. He was a Teamster and enjoyed playing cards, but he was very responsible with his money. He always put half of his income directly into savings. He taught me to never stop learning. He told me that I could be anything that I wanted to be when I grew up. I lived with Grandma and Grandpa for a good portion of my childhood. My dad said my mother couldn't take care of us.

I made a commitment to never rely on 'welfare' and I left behind the world that I had grown up in. I only stayed in regular contact with Grandma and Grandpa Creek. I joined the U. S. Navy in 1976 and served until 1982. I met my husband in 1979 and we married soon after. He continued serving until he had enough time in to retire with 20 years service. I pursued a career in accounting and was left to raise our 2 sons mostly on my own. It was hard at times, but we were working for the medical benefits that we would receive as career military. Larry would have stayed in longer, but he opted for retirement so that I could stay with the company that I worked for in Hayward, CA. They went defunct in 1997. I was quickly hired on by Sutter Connect in Emeryville, CA as a Senior Accountant and later was advanced to Accounting Manager.

After retiring from the Navy in 1990, Larry went to work for a subsidiary branch of Parsons, Inc. They owned the contract at the time to do the referee work for the California Smog Check program. Through the contacts that he made as a referee, he went to work for the California Bureau of Auto Repair and spent the next 15 years working for the state, as an inspector and as a lab technician.

In January 2005, I lost my Grandma Creek and my mother within days of each other. By June 2005, I was having so much difficulty with MS (diagnosed in 1992) in the form of cognitive problems. I frequently forgot what I was working on. I had to start tasks from scratch after interruptions and I was prone to breaking down in crying episodes at the office. I talked to Larry about selling our house and moving to Oregon. (Thank you 'W' for letting us keep our proceeds). Larry was eligible to retire through CalPers and with his Navy retirement, I thought it would be a good chance for him to spend some time with his dad who was suffering with end-stage Parkinsons. Dad died in 2006.

We found that neither one of us fit into the Southwest Oregon lifestyle, but we tried to make the best of it. I finally got approved for Social Security Disability at the end of 2008. My first check went to the attorney that had to fight my case for me. In 2009 we finally decided that it was time to move back to California. We found a place in the country and finally sold our Oregon home in January 2010.

So here we are leeches on society with our military retirement, CalPers pension and my Social Security disability (which I paid into my entire life... everytime I hit the cap, the cap got raised.. lol.

So here I am, a lifetime of bilking welfare. Larry is trying to find a job, he gets bored not working, but no one wants to hire someone that is almost 60 years old (except Walmart). Euthanasia anyone?