I’m going to tell you about the next few years quickly. Because they were hard, and I don’t like to sit in them too long.
I got a lawyer through Indiana Legal Services, a sweet young woman named Monica who worked out of an office above a pawn shop and didn’t charge me a dime. She got the divorce done. She got a judge to order Ray to pay child support. Eleven hundred dollars a month, for six kids.
Ray paid exactly three times. Then he moved to Manila and stopped.
Monica filed with the state child support enforcement office. They intercepted one tax refund. Then he stopped filing taxes in the United States altogether. By the time Eliza turned eighteen, Ray owed me over a hundred and sixty thousand dollars in back child support.
I never saw a penny of it.
So I worked.
I left the dentist’s office because it didn’t pay enough. I got a job as a cook in the cafeteria at Northrop High School, so I’d have the same schedule as my kids. Then I worked my way up to cafeteria manager. And three nights a week, from six until midnight, I did medical billing for the hospital on Lake Avenue. I learned insurance codes. I learned how to fight with Medicaid on the phone. I learned how to sleep four hours a night.
When the furnace died, I refinanced the house. When Caleb needed braces, I took a loan against my retirement account at the school district. When Jason broke his arm playing football and the hospital bill came, I set up a payment plan and paid forty dollars a month for three years.
I never once missed a mortgage payment. Not one. Twenty-two years.
I was at every football game. Every band concert. Every parent-teacher conference. I sat on hard bleachers at the Kingsland Community Center every Saturday morning for basketball, for volleyball, for the Christmas pageant where Sarah was a sheep two years in a row.
And slowly, one at a time, my six children grew up.
Lila Hart is a dedicated Digital Archivist and Research Specialist with a keen eye for preserving and curating meaningful content. At TheArchivists, she specializes in organizing and managing digital archives, ensuring that valuable stories and historical moments are accessible for generations to come.
Lila earned her degree in History and Archival Studies from the University of Edinburgh, where she cultivated her passion for documenting the past and preserving cultural heritage. Her expertise lies in combining traditional archival techniques with modern digital tools, allowing her to create comprehensive and engaging collections that resonate with audiences worldwide.
At TheArchivists, Lila is known for her meticulous attention to detail and her ability to uncover hidden gems within extensive archives. Her work is praised for its depth, authenticity, and contribution to the preservation of knowledge in the digital age.
Driven by a commitment to preserving stories that matter, Lila is passionate about exploring the intersection of history and technology. Her goal is to ensure that every piece of content she handles reflects the richness of human experiences and remains a source of inspiration for years to come.