Homeless, But Grateful

[GRRRRLISME]

First of all, I've been coming to StephenKing.com for quite some time, but I decided to join this forum after I discovered there was no real way to message him directly to express my gratitude to him. The title of my thread is why I'm writing. As of today, I've been homeless for exactly 219 days. I am employed, but I only work part-time at my job & they haven't given me the opportunity to move up to full-time, even though I've worked there for a year & a half. My job is also 100% commission, so I make no hourly whatsoever (unbelievable, right?), so my income is very limited. Partial unemployment benefits helped me until May of 2012, & then those stopped, so into my car I went, & there I have remained for the last 7+ months. So why is the title of this thread "homeless, but grateful", you may ask? I shall answer. When I realized I was going to be homeless for a little while, & knowing I'd be without a tv as well, I decided that it was high time to drag out my collection of books & give them a second (or third, or in some cases, 10th) read. I started with my non-Stephen King novels & finished them within the first 7 weeks or so. I read everywhere: in my car, sitting at a fast-food joint, in a hotel room (when I can afford to "splurge" on one), etc. It isn't uncommon for me to sit & read an entire novel in a day's time. A couple of months ago, I re-read the unabridged version of "The Stand" & finished it in 4 days. Like I said, lot of time on my hands. :) Anyway, once I'd read the books I owned which weren't penned by our favorite writer, I then turned to my huge collection of King novels & dove right in. I opened up a random box & pulled out the first one of his books I came across, which happened to be The Dark Half. Next came The Talisman & Black House, then Carrie, then Misery, etc. I came across Duma Key in my collection & realized I'd bought the novel & never actually sat & read it all the way through! What a delight it was to have a "new" King novel on my hands! Sometimes I read until midnight, sitting in my car in the parking lot of a Home Depot, squinting to read the words but utterly incapable of putting the book down because King has me completely hooked. Right now, I'm currently re-reading The Tommyknockers (my 3rd time reading it) & the minute I'm done writing this message, I will dive back into the novel & savor every moment of it. My gratitude to Mr. King is almost beyond words. These last 7 months have been unbelievably difficult for me, but re-reading his novels & collections of short stories have helped me pass the time, made me feel a little less lonely, made me cry, laugh, scream, growl in frustration, and, best of all, have brought back memories that I didn't realize were buried until they resurfaced & overflowed my brain. I write this message hoping that one of these days he'll come across it & realize how much his novels mean to me & how they've sustained me through this difficult period in my life. Every time I read one of his books, I thank my mother (lost tragically to a heart attack in March of 2011 at the age of 51) for putting Christine into my hands at the tender age of 13 & forever changing my life. I did NOT write this hoping for sympathy or pity or anything else. What would be the point? No, I wrote this to thank YOU, Mr. King. Thank you for what you do. Thank you for what you did for me these past 7 months. I have 4 other novels & the entire Dark Tower Collection to re-read yet, but I'm hoping my fortune will change in the next few weeks, so that way, I'll be able to enjoy your novels in the privacy of my own bedroom rather than the front seat of my Honda Accord. I am grateful to you, sir. This Constant Reader is a fan for life. :)

[Moderator]

Wishing you the best of luck in finding a better job and a home.

[Spideyman]

May a new full time job and better living conditions come your way very soon. Stay in the positive and keep reading. I send you love and green lights!

[blunthead]

What a fantastic post. Welcome to the SKMB and keep posting! Thoughts and prayers for you. Stay safe.

[Todash]

What a lovely tribute. Along with Ms. Mod, and everyone here, I'm sure, I wish you the absolute best in finding a better situation. Please come back when you can and let us know how things are going.

[mustangclaire]

Thanks for posting that, wow that made me well up. Wishing you the very very very best change of fortune soon friend. You sound like you deserve it xx

[Vose]

Inspiring words! I too often forget to appreciate my home and bed and other much-loved comforts. Sending you positive energy and hoping that your job search is fruitful! May the path grow less rocky for you soon!

[Sigmund]

Hi!

Sending you thoughts and prayers. May your situation get better soon. Stay positive and safe.

Peace.

[GNTLGNT]

....when I'd just about given up on most of human-kind, along comes "Mr. Honda".....bless you man, that was beautiful...and I hope your future is as bright as your spirit...

[Patricia A]

Here's to you and your great big spirit. Keep on keeping on, things will come around your way.
Books are truly magic carpets, I have always felt so. There has never been a hard time that books haven't sustained me through. Books are my personal favorite escape hatch.
Do you hang out at the public library much? Free internet, lots of warm quite and hanging out with us. We aren't Stephen King but, who is? Well, he is, but you get what I mean.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa219/plcarmstrong/533482_487433987975132_560229234_n-1.jpg

[king family fan]

You have sure shown us a bright outlook. I wish you the best. Glad you shared. Hope you can get a more stable paying job. You have touched my heart.

[GRRRRLISME]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers & well wishes. I'm currently typing this at the public library, one of my favorite spots to hang out because of the peace & relative quiet it offers. I have loved this website for so long & it's nice to see so many nice, friendly people on here leaving messages as opposed to other websites where so many are hateful & rude. I will most definitely be frequenting this site more often & I very much look forward to talking to some of you & getting to know you better. Oh, & are we allowed to give out our names? Ah well, I'll do it anyway, it's Jen. It's a pleasure to meet all of you. :)

[Debbie913]

:) Your post really touched me. (I could learn something from your positive outlook! Thank you) Sending prayers and positive thoughts to you. :)

[kingricefan]

Sending you all of the bestest, warmest happy thoughts and vibes that I can manage! Your post has touched alot of us here at the SKMB. I'm sure if King reads your post he will be touched also. Good luck to you- with all the amount of goodwill and prayers you've got coming from us here, your luck is sure to turn around! Hang in there.

[tenngolfer]

Good luck, stay positive. You want to try help from local churches. Networking is big, and you may find good contacts there. Also I seen advertising recently Goodwill is helping in job placement, you might find a new and better gig through them.

[GNTLGNT]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers & well wishes. I'm currently typing this at the public library, one of my favorite spots to hang out because of the peace & relative quiet it offers. I have loved this website for so long & it's nice to see so many nice, friendly people on here leaving messages as opposed to other websites where so many are hateful & rude. I will most definitely be frequenting this site more often & I very much look forward to talking to some of you & getting to know you better. Oh, & are we allowed to give out our names? Ah well, I'll do it anyway, it's Jen. It's a pleasure to meet all of you. :)

...howdy sweetheart....

[Haunted]

God bless you, Jen. Search out the local St. Vincent de Paul along with the Goodwill. You have my prayers.

[kingricefan]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers & well wishes. I'm currently typing this at the public library, one of my favorite spots to hang out because of the peace & relative quiet it offers. I have loved this website for so long & it's nice to see so many nice, friendly people on here leaving messages as opposed to other websites where so many are hateful & rude. I will most definitely be frequenting this site more often & I very much look forward to talking to some of you & getting to know you better. Oh, & are we allowed to give out our names? Ah well, I'll do it anyway, it's Jen. It's a pleasure to meet all of you. :)

Jen- we are well met!! (you'll understand if you've read the Dark Tower books) Yes, for the most part we are a pretty good bunch here at the SKMB. We try to keep things nice and civil (well, maybe not so much in the Hot Topics threads.....:laugh:) There's just not much sense in getting people all riled up about some silly matter, right? Keep in touch!

[king family fan]

Welcome again Jen. Glad to have you and if you need friends,we are here.

[Ebdim9th]

Blessings and prayers go with you Jen! Some years ago I lost my old apartment and had to stay with some friends for almost a year. Up until they rented that house, they themselves had been living out of thier station wagon. So, believe me, I sympathize...

~~Phil

[GRRRRLISME]

Hi there everyone! Just wanted to check in & say hello to all of you. I hope all of you are well & living your lives to the fullest. My situation, as of yet, has not changed, but I still haven't given up hope that they will soon. I've applied for other jobs & have been looking to relocate in the hopes that it will improve my chances of getting out of my current situation asap. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm still smiling, despite my predicament, (and looking forward to my birthday in a couple of weeks) & I hope you all are finding a reason to smile every day, as I am. Much love to everyone on here & shout out to Mr. King from his still-grateful Constant Reader. :)

[king family fan]

Glad to see you staying positative. Good to see you again. Have a wonderful day.

[Patricia A]

Good to see you! Staying warm at the library I hope. Been wondering about you and I am glad to hear you are keeping your chin up girl. WTG, you can do this and better times are just around the corner for you!

((((Jen))))

[Spideyman]

Happy to see you stopping by again. Your positive attitude is the best! Keep it up. Wishing you a Happy Birthday too. Stay safe and warm and will be sending good vibes your way. Love and green lights!

[Shasta]

Hi Jen. I just saw this for the first time.

You are very, very, very close to me. Do you mind if I ask what your skills are? I don't know of anything hiring right now but I'm happy to keep an eye out.

[king4aday]

Good luck with your current, and I believe, temporary condition. Everything is only temporary but I do hope you lock the car doors at night. Especially reading King in your car.