Sarah was devastated as yet again her health issues had stopped her working
yet again.
"Your
dismissed!" Echoed through her mind like a thunderstorm on a
winters day as her managers voice boomed through her mind as tears
trickled down Sarah's cheeks like dew drops on a leaf.
As
depression swept over her like a blanket, she felt there was no job
would ever accept her since that was the 3rd job she'd lost in the
past 8 years.
Food
was her only comfort as she binged on every crumb of cake in the
fridge and half a packet of biscuits in the tin in the cupboard too.
Guilt washed over her like a tidal wave as she fled to the bathroom
to undo her binge and then dashed to the living room to grab her step
aerobics equipment to burn off her binge whilst watching a movie on
tv to pass the time she was trapped at home alone whilst
family
were at work and school.
Day
by day dragged by stuck at home.
Family
tried to comfort her by chatting about their days at school and work,
but nothing cheered her up. Anti depressants took ages to work, but
even when they did kick in, they didn't seem to dull the misery of
being stuck at home. Debt piled up , making Sarah's phone beep daily
with upsetting texts from the bank ordering her to put money in her
account by midnight or else she faced charges. It spun her deeper
into depths of dispair. Like a swamp of thick oozing mud pulling her
deeeper into misery.
Sarah poured out her emotions to her doctor , like a tidal wave in a storm.
"I feel useless" she sobbed. "No job wants me, or
they make my life a misery hoping I will leave".
Her
doctor listened intently and she handed Sarah a tissue and suggested
different
sources of support like a social prescriber, different charities that
may be able to help her. "You can ask the social presciber about
different grants available for your washing machine, the council do
grants too for people who are financially struggling" the doctor
reassured her soothingly. As Sarah sobbed in exasperation, floods of
squashed down fears came flooding out like a waterfall.
"Theres
no food in our fridge, or cupboard, we can't afford washing powder
either" she cried. She dabbed the tears streaming down her
cheeks with the soft tissue which felt like a feather in a pillow.
Her
doctor gave her a food bank voucher where she could get emergency
food and essentials for a few days whilst she searched for a new job
and suggested a local food club where the family could get cheap bags
of food for just £2 a week.
Sarah left the doctors surgery feeling like a lead weight had been lifted
off her shoulders for the 1st time in a month since she lost her job
and had shut herself away from the world where she felt no one wanted
someone with disabilities like hers.
Now
she felt there was a glimmer of hope like a morning sunrise
shimmering behind the hills.
Nervously Sarah peeked through the doorway of the aincient local church on
Thursday lunchtime as Andy her husband helped her attend the new
weekly food kitchen nervously for the 1st time.
They
weren't sure what to expect as their hearts pounded like horses
hooves as Sarah peered around the room at the vast array of tables
scattered with food like marbles in a school playground and stalls
with leaflets and staff greeting people
approaching
them.
As
they were warmly greeted by the staff at the entrance they were shown
how to get a warm cup of tea and food whilst they waited to be called
to get their bags of food. As they waited at a small floral
decorated table with several other people too, munching away and
chatting to eachother as if they came here all the time like chirping
birds twittering in a tree.
Sarah and Andy glanced around as they muched on the biscuits with their
cups of milky tea they saw several other tables with different
companies and charities they could get support from, one of them was
the local council talking about free adult learning courses Sarah could
do to support her back to work. It made emotional memories come
flooding back like a twister in a storm as suddenly she
saw
flashbacks to days at school where she struggled in classes such as
maths and science and art. She could see her 11 year old self sat at
a school desk sobbing as she put up her hand in class asking aa
teacher for help, only for the teacher to blank her, or put her down
a level to the basic maths class as they were frustrated with Sarah
constantly asking for help.
Tears
trickled down Sarah's cheeks as she felt jeers from class mates behind
her laughing cruelly like chattering monkeys in the jungle as they
appeared to quickly complete the tasks the teacher had required the
class to do.
Sarah suddenly found herself back in the church hall as Andy gently nudged
her arm prompting her that the staff from the council was talking to
her.
Sarah nervously explained that she barely got any good grades at school and
dreaded the
thought of going back to school again as an adult. But the council
staff reassured her that she will get as much support as she needed.
Her
heart thumping like cymbals as Sarah was terrified at what to say,
anxiously trying to think of an excuse to escape but as she saw Andy
smiling encouragingly Sarah found herself agreeing to give a computer
course a try.
A
week later Sarah nervously entered the adult learning class in a local
church, with her heart pounding like thunder.
She
felt tears of anxiety trickling down her cheeks like dew drops on a
leaf as flashbacks of fear in school and jeers from classmates echoed
in her mind, her heart thudded as she was tempted to flee, but her
teacher reassured her kindly that "everything would be ok".
Part of her was so tempted to change her mind and flee
but
as the teacher smiled warmly like a sun rising on a summers day as
she welcomed Sarah and showed her to her seat. Everyone at the couse
were from different backgrounds from retired or struggling to find
work for many reasons.
Sarah was relieved to find the course helpful and slowly got more confident
to speak out in class and ask the teacher questions without the worry
of any negative responses.
The
teacher found ways to explain tasks to Sarah in a way she understood
which helped Sarah's confidence bloom like flowers on a sunny day.
As
the lesson came to an end that day Sarah
excitedly
poured out to Andy how much she had learned better in that course
than she had been able to learn at school.
Sarah ended up trying several other courses, from English, anxiety
management to art and
craft. The more courses she did, the more her confidence increased.
She
made lots of new friends at the courses, feeling welcome and
included and the staff at the courses were really helpful finding out
how they could support her getting back to work, or anything else
she needed like a laptop to do her homework from the courses at home
too.
As Sarah's confidence bloomed like blossom on a tree in springtime, she
ended up doing her homework on evenings with her children, giving
them lots to have a conversation about and they could help eachother
out with either of them struggling with certain subjects they had
homework on too.
Sarah ended up getting the support she needed to get a job she could work
around her childrens school hours which helped her so much in a
variety of ways.
Now
she had her own job, she no longer needed to use the food bank and
could slowly pay off her debts and have their 1st family holiday in 2
years which was a lovely break they could enjoy together walking
along the beach watching the waves lapping on the beach as their
youngest built sandcastles beside them.
Sarah was proud of herself for the 1st time in many years thanks to the
adult learning courses which helped her confidence bloom like petals
on spring flowers as they had helped her learn in a way she had
wished had been taught many years ago when she was at school.
