01: Forever Happiness

In the year 2001, in Mississippi, a smart salesman and a family man named John Meyer invested all his money in the Family Life Time Insurance Company, one of the most prestigious insurance companies in Mississippi during that time. The more aggressive and popular Mutual Loan and Insurance Company, a rival company, caused the closure of the Family Life Time Insurance Company, which made John Meyer lose his savings. He became bankrupt. This led John Meyer’s wife, Sandra, to leave for London to find work. Her wife finally left him and attempted to get the custody of their son Daniel. John Meyer, despite his broke situation, committed to take care of their son. It was not an easy decision though; he underwent the toughest time in his life. He found relief when he was offered a good and decent post in a company where he worked for five months of unpaid labor during the training period. During these five months, he lost everything, including his house, leaving him and his son homeless. During this hard time, he and his son were forced to live in the bathroom of a train station. He struggled to get extra work every day in order for them to survive. His sacrifice, professionalism and hard work finally paid off when he was finally offered two (2) positions in the company, as board of director and as a manager. He was almost in tears but was able to hold them back when the news was relayed to him. He was so touched and felt so blessed that as soon as he left the conference room, his tears started to come out. People saw him crying while walking on the street. He rushed to his son’s daycare center, kissed and held him tightly knowing that everything would be fine and all right for both of them.

Activity 1. Vocabulary enhancement

Invests - put to a use expected to yield a profit or income.

Professionally - person academically prepared for work

Scramble - move about with hasty movement

Struggle - to make one`s way through difficulty

Swell up - to seem to be puffed up (with conceit or pride).

Activity 2. Discussion.

1. What do you think about the story?

2. How do you feel about it?

3. If you were in this situation, do you think you could survive?

4. How important is your job to you? How about your family?

5. What moral lesson we can get from this story?