America Deserves A Raise

Gerald started working at the age of sixteen filling gas tanks as an gas attendant. He than met the love of his life, but soon his job was eliminated. He than was able to get a job making shelving units, you know the ones that are usually in someones garage or closet. Gerald worked there a few years, meanwhile he did marry the love of his life and two years later his first daughter Katie was born. He than decide he wanted a better life for his daughter Katie, so they move into another apartment complex where he also got another job as an maintenance man in the evenings, along with his full time job during the day making shelves. His child- hood home became on the market and boy did it need an overhaul. He left the maintenance job and he and his wife purchased the fixer upper with a mortgage payment. His wife found out she was going to have another baby, a baby girl.  With only a high school diploma and now going to be the father of two, he decided he needed to learn a trade. Gerald than went to Heating and Air conditioning school while he worked at his full time job, did repairs on his fixer upper, which by the way they were so proud of. My brother found out that he did past the Heating and Air conditioning test. After passing the test he left his job making shelves and got his first job fixing furnaces and air conditioners. The neighborhood was not the best for his girls so they put their house on the market and bought a bi-level home in a great location.
Gerald worked days at his full time job fixing furnaces all the while being on call on nights and weekends, and also doing some remodeling work on the side. Nine years later he found out that his wife was going to have another baby, they had hoped to have a son to carry on his name. They did find out that the baby was a girl and he was so excited. The marriage began to have problems and the economy had taken its toll on their marriage, and his wife left him because he had worked so much that he was not home with the family as much as he would have liked. Gerald was crushed, he loved his wife and family so much, but she still wanted out. Through the divorce they had lost their home and my brother is now living at our Uncle Jim’s house. Gerald still works for the Heating and conditioning company, works on call nights and weekends,and after all these years still doing side jobs during what little spare time he has. My brother’s girls are now age 12, 21, 24 years old, and through it all he has very little to show for it, except for the well being of his three special girls who are now the love of his life.