Moving on

In 1983 the Fort Wayne International Harvester plant was closing. That meant Carl would lose his job. July 15, 1983 was his last day at the Fort Wayne plant. It was just five days past his 50th birthday. Some friends had a birthday party for him but he didn’t feel much like celebrating. He had worked there for 19 years.

Less than a month after he lost his job with Harvester he was hired on at a small factory in New Haven. It was a less than ideal job and he was only there for a couple of weeks. They wanted him to use his own tools which he refused to do so they fired him.

He found another job with a factory that made steering wheels. It was called Sheller Globe. Again he didn’t like it but he needed to provide for his family. He started at $8.00 an hour compared to $12.00 he was making when Harvester closed. This factory worked with melted plastic. He remembers it being really hot inside and he didn’t like working there at all.

While he was at this factory I was getting married in Kansas. He made sure to let them know that he needed to go there for my wedding and they accommodated.

This period of time was pretty hard on Carl. He wasn’t happy yet he knew things were bound to start looking up.

There was another International Harvester plant in Springfield, Ohio. They were calling some Fort Wayne employees that had lost their jobs to see if they were willing to move to Springfield and work there. Carl definitely was willing to do that! At this point in his life it was just him & Donna. Janet and I had moved out and started their own lives.

Their insurance had run out on September 1st. This was a huge issue for them with Donna’s severe diabetes. On September 10th Harvester called and offered him a job at the Springfield plant. His first response to the caller was “Praise the Lord”. They wanted him to start the next day on second shift. He immediately got his car packed up as full as he could get it and drove to Springfield with giddy excitement! He stayed with some good friends the Boyer’s until him and Donna got fully moved. As soon as he clocked in on September 11th his insurance was reinstated. God was so good to him during this period of transition.

After his retirement from International Harvester him & Donna moved to Richmond, Virginia where their oldest daughter Janet lived. They wanted to live closer to one of their girls as they began their years of retirement.

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Author: 2faithfulsisters

My name is Barb Ninemire. I live in Hill City, Kansas, it’s a small town in the NW part of the state. I’ve been married to my husband Lon for 40 years. We have two children. Our daughter Krysten is married to Braden and she has a beautiful daughter, Klara and a rambunctious 2 year old Elliot. Our son, Lewen and his wife Ashley have two sweet little girls Isabelle and Lillian. Being grandparents has brought so much joy to our lives! I grew up in Indiana and am the youngest from a family of two children. My sister Janet was 14 months older than me. I never new life without her. We were the best of friends! You may have noticed that I am referencing her in the past tense. Six years ago we were right in the middle of preparing her for a bone marrow transplant. I was blessed to be a 100% match for her so I was able to be her donor. She lived in Virginia and I live in Kansas. That meant a lot of flying back and forth for me. I didn’t care at all, it was actually fun because I was able to spend so much extra time with my favorite person! The transplant was in June. She did amazing, and all of her numbers were looking great. I flew back to Kansas a week after the transplant. Soon after I was home things weren’t going as well as they had been. She had graft vs host which is basically her body rejecting the donors bone marrow. She lived just a few short weeks after that. I had never watched someone die before. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced. I wasn’t emotionally ready for anything this devastating. I began to journal my experiences through my grief. My hope is that I can share some of what I went through and how I dealt with this great loss in my life. Life is good - but sometimes its hard. I depend on the Lord and His word for my strength during those times.

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