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  • Anonymous
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    Post count: 93172

    Miriam,

    My thoughts and prayers are with you. Back when I was first diagnosed with
    GD my husband’s company decided to do something similar. Of course, they
    dragged it out and stressed the employees beyond normal human endurance.
    As it turned out, my husband was one of the fortunate ones to keep his job,
    actually get a raise…provided we move 1000 miles away. At the time, I had a
    new baby, Graves which gave me anxiety attacks like I never knew could happen,
    and I felt like the world was coming to an end. Psalm 27 encouraged me the
    most and I would like to share with you at least these lines:

    “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
    that I would see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
    Wait on the Lord;
    Be of good courage,
    And He shall strengthen your heart;
    Wait, I say, on the Lord!”

    Hang on to that belief that you will see His goodness in the land of the LIVING.
    I know you have faith, so remember, He says in Isaiah that you will walk through
    the waters and not be drowned, through the fires and not be burned for He is with you.
    I can testify that He brought me through unspeakable mental and emotional anguish
    from GD and some of the horrible stressors in my life for the past couple of years,
    and I know He will be there with you, holding you in His strong arms.

    Glynis

    Anonymous
    Participant
    Post count: 93172

    Hi, Miriam.

    Well, it must have been pretty upsetting for you and your husband to see
    those announcements about Sara Lee. I cannot even imagine what it must
    be like to have five small children depending on the two of you, but
    once you have gotten over the shock of the announcement, you may want
    to think about the following:

    – The changes in the company are predicted to take several years. That
    may give your husband time to find another position in a less affected
    part of the company. It also may give him time to find a comparable
    position with another company.

    – I know it is a shock, but your husband should start empowering
    himself now to find a new job by networking, making a list of his
    accumulated skills, and writing a resume. If, like many people at
    some large companies, he has not written a resume or interviewed
    in many years, he should check out the many excellent books in the
    public library (resume writing, in particular, has changed a lot in
    the last 10 to 15 years). Another resource is friends or
    acquaintances who have job-hunted recently. Incidentally, these
    skills will also be helpful to him even if he wants to try for another
    job at Sara Lee.

    – If you think your husband may need to move to another company, I will
    make one more suggestion. Check out a book called ‘The 100 Best
    Companies to Work for in America.’ It is all about companies that
    still treat their employees well, do value loyalty and good work, and
    still provide good benefits and salaries. Offhand, I do remember that
    one of the companies that used to be discussed in the book was
    Hallmark, which is headquartered in Kansas City. Another company
    I remember being mentioned was 3M, which has a company culture of
    encouraging creativity and promoting from within the company. 3M
    is headquartered in Minnesota but has facilities around the country.

    Anyway, I hope some of these suggestions are helpful. Above all else,
    take good care of yourself. I can’t believe any kid needs anything more
    than a healthy mom and dad who love them. I’ve recently been learning
    more and more myself that, in most situations in life, more than a
    certain amount of stress doesn’t help. It’s always been a difficult
    lesson to learn, and I keep having to re-learn it. The toughest thing
    about your situation with Sara Lee may be the waiting. Only you and
    your husband can decide whether it would be better for him to move on
    to another company on his own initiative rather than wait to see
    whether he gets laid off. One consideration: if he looks for a new
    job now, he will have a lot less competition than if he waits until
    500 other people have just been load off, too.

    Best of luck to you and your family; I hope you will let us know how
    things develop.

    Anonymous
    Participant
    Post count: 93172

    Miriam,

    Hopefully, eveything will work out for your husband and he will not lose his job through all of this. Sara Lee is a good company to work for and if anything happens I am sure they will work with their employees to handle any downsizing even if it means taking another job in anoher area of the company.
    Also, as far as you house goes depending upon what state you live in the bank will not take away your house with five children, They will want to work with you which may mean extending your mortgage to a longer term and modifying the original promissory note to more economical terms. I worked in banking and finance for 15 years so I know the rules and ths would apply to you. Just making a phone call and speaking to a bank president in the mortgage department will win your case.

    WE all get stressed out when it comes to possible layoffs and downsizing but you can only take things one day at a time and pray that it will work out maybe to your husbands benefit, “Please e-mail me if you need to talk. Dee

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