Things got much worse four years ago. I'd made a huge mistake that I'm still paying for. At the time I was living with my dogs in a one bedroom apartment. I had a truck that barely ran and kept breaking down and a job that was killing me. It as a cleaning job and I was barely making enough to live on. My hours had been cut because I told him about my chronic pain when he complained about how slow I was going all the time. I was depressed, miserable, and just wanted out. I didn't realize how much worse my life could get.
My sister in law and brother decided that they wanted to move to West Virginia. They asked if I wanted to come along. They told me that there was a property there that we could buy and how we could build a house. They said that job opportunities there were great and I should have no problem finding a better job, or at least applying for disability; I'd applied before but was denied. I guess anyone who applies is denied the first time. None of that ended up happening.
I don't believe in signs and portents but several things happened that should have told me that moving there was a bad idea. First, my truck broke down and was impounded. I didn't have the money to get it out of impound, not that I could have afforded to fix it anyway. Then, the money we'd saved for the move was stolen when my sister in law left her purse on a shopping cart. Things just got worse from there.
When we got there I found out that the property had two buildings on it that had been burned down. The place was a mess. We started cleaning it up while living in tents. We contacted Habitat for Humanity and they hooked us up with somebody who could supply building materials for the house. The people ended up backing out because we didn't have insurance. To make matters worse, my sister in law's friend (who also moved with us) started yelling at the Habitat for Humanity people over the phone threatening to sue them. So, there went help getting a house built.
We ended up moving camp to a property owned by a friend of my sister in law. The reasoning was that we could use the shower there and have time to figure out what to do next. We ended up moving into the house with her friend when Hurricane Sandy hit and dumped a ton of snow on the ground.
Things were okay for the first few months. Then my sister in law's friends started causing drama and ended up having to move. Then my brother and sister in law moved not long after, leaving me there at that house. I did chores around the house for room and board (dishes, trash, chopping wood-talk about pain) and it ended up me doing everything.
The owner of the property died about four months ago. She had COPD and emphysema. It was so bad that she was on oxygen but wouldn't quit smoking. Not long after she died her kids, who up until that time I thought of as friends, showed their true colors. What followed were constant threats and physical attacks. I had no place to go and really needed out. I was having constant panic attacks. I had no money and no way to move so I was in an impossible spot.
My mom offered to have me move in with her. The catch was that I would have to give my dogs up. The thought of giving them up killed me. I don't know how much I cried while I agonized over it. I made arrangements to have somebody pick them up.
Just when I thought I was going to lose them, a friend offered to let me stay at her place for a while. I could keep my dogs.
