When Life Keeps Knocking You Down

Sometimes life doesn’t just throw one problem your way. Sometimes it feels like everything hits at once your family, your health, your job, until you wonder how everything you thought was stable could change so quickly.

At the start of the yearmy beagle Vic got sick, in February we lost Vic. He had been sick for months and eventually lost the ability to walk. Saying goodbye was heartbreaking, but life didn’t slow down long enough for us to grieve. The week before we lost Vic, I broke my front tooth bad, and the repair would cost seventeen thousand dollars even after insurance. It felt like another reminder of how quickly things can spiral out of control.

Meanwhile, my youngest son Austin began having ongoing health issues. His heart would suddenly start racing, and doctors had him wear a heart holter monitor. They think it may be related to stress and anxiety, but seeing your child go through something like this, even at 26, is terrifying. Especially after he had myocarditis 2 years ago and last year gastritis and gerd. On top of that, he developed tinnitus, a constant ringing in his ears that hasn’t fully gone away.

After my mom passed away, my son Skylar bought her house so we could keep it in the family. Skylar, Austin, and I all live there now, and for a while we even worked together at the same company, which felt like stability.... until it wasn’t.

Over the past year, our company got a new CEO and HR team. While leadership changes often come with hope, in our case it meant years of concerns we had raised were dismissed as being “in the past,” even when we told them the issues were still occurring.

Then came the meeting about restructuring. Skylar was being demoted from manager to supervisor, (even though they praised him about how great of a job he has done in front of all of us) and someone with a history of mistreating coworkers was put in charge. They were merging two departments even though this person becoming in charge has no clue how to do anything in our department) They presented the choice of a voluntary layoff or risking a forced layoff if no one stepped forward. It was a clear message: the people who had been working the hardest could be pushed out.

That same day, after the meeting, I had a mammogram and ultrasound because a previous scan had shown something suspicious. The doctor told me there is a mass that could be and looked cancerous and scheduled a biopsy. I haven't had it yet (March 20th is the day) , and the wait was terrifying.

When I picked my boys up from work that day, I broke down crying in front of them and the coworkers who had become like family to me. We were all crying. The next day, we had a meeting with just the packaging team without Skylar or the new soon-to-be manager to talk about our feelings. In that moment, I realized exactly who had our backs. The coworkers who spoke up showed me that they supported me, Skylar, and Austin. The ones who stayed silent were only concerned with themselves. Most of us had always fought for each other, and in that moment, the truth about loyalty and support became crystal clear.

Austin and I were ultimately forced to take voluntary layoffs, leaving us both unemployed, as well as 3 of our other

co- workers. We would be losing our health insurance just as I and Austin truly need it. At my age, starting over is scary. Austin is only twenty-six, and the only job he’s ever known is working in a marijuana facility... filling carts and packaging. I wish I could convince him to try graphic design or social media marketing and advertising because he’s talented at it, but his social anxiety makes it difficult, and I worry about how he’ll move forward.

Some days I get through with tears, some days with fear, and some days with music. Music reminds me who I am, what I love, and why I’ve gotten through challenges before. It’s the one thing that feels steady when everything else feels chaotic.

This period has been exhausting, heartbreaking, and terrifying, but it’s also clarified so much. Life quickly shows you who stands beside you, who stays silent, and how quickly loyalty can be overlooked when people in power don’t care.

We’re grieving, scared, and uncertain, but even after life keeps knocking us down, we know one thing: we’ll get back up. We’ll figure out what’s next. Somehow, some way, this will become a chapter of resilience...proof that we survived, even when life tried to break us.

As overwhelming as the past few months have been, we’re choosing to see this as the start of a new chapter. We don’t know exactly where life will lead us, and yes, we’re both scared... me especially, because of my age and the upcoming biopsy. But even in that fear, we’re determined to move forward. This chapter will be about focusing on our health, our passions, and the bonds that truly matter. Life may have knocked us down, but we are rising with courage, clarity, and a renewed sense of purpose. Together, we are ready to embrace whatever comes next, knowing that even after the hardest trials, brighter days are possible. If you read this and can relate, please try to stay positive, because there is always dark before the dawn.

Peace, Love and Loud Music,

Mickey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbXvaE39wM

Song seems fitting!