From the beginning of 2009 through 2017 I was living on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). I was so eager, though, to get back to work and eventually get OFF of disability, because I knew I could work! So, I would actively take on contracting jobs, mostly in Minnesota for a few months, but when the contract ended, I would move back to my parents’ house in Rockford, IL. It was very tedious. With each contract, I hoped it would morph into a full-time employee job. I enrolled in a government program called, Ticket-to-Work, which allowed someone on disability take on jobs, while remaining on disability for an extended time. It was designed to work as a bridge from extended unemployment due to disability to becoming rejoining the workforce.

I had my dad to thank for getting both me and my son on disability.