Paid my dues but still serving life......

by Chris Hill
(Toledo, Iowa USA)

My boys

my son and i

my beautiful fiance

Back in 2006 I had just gone out on my own and didn't have the income to support myself. I was staying around with whoever would let me stay a few days.

I was staying with a friend who was living in one of his dad's houses. While my buddy was gone one day I had gone out to the store real quick and the door locked behind me. I came back and carded the door open so I could get in and his dad pulled up and saw me doing it. He called the sheriff and had me charged with Burglary 3rd which is a minor felony here in Iowa.

I even tried to get him to stand up for me in court but I think his dad put a stop to that. During that time I was also writing bad checks under my personal account to pay for the things I needed to live.

I was charged with Theft 2nd for $1019 in bad checks. That was back in 2006 and I have been clean and good since then. I have wanted to get into trucking for the longest time and I keep hitting the same barrier that everyone else is and I refuse to give up. It just seems like I am at a huge roadblock and don't know what else to do. Finding even a regular job has been hard especially living in a small town. I am living with my fiance and our kids at her parents 2 bedroom trailer and it makes me feel like crap everyday because I feel like I should be providing better than that.

I am going to be 24 in November and recently sent out a batch to the trucking companies again along with Swift and they have told me the same answer they always do. I just want to provide for my family while at the same time doing the things that I love. I don't want my kids growing up thinking of me as a worthless piece of crap who can't find a job.

I have paid my dues and now I feel like I am serving a life sentence. Is there any hope for me because I can't keep putting my family through this. They deserve better than that. Right now the only thing I have found is the fire department where I am a volunteer ambulance driver and that doesn't pay the bills.

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Oct 06, 2010
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hopeful
by: American Trucker

Find your calling, make it your passion and rise to the challenge. Never mind the distance it seems you will have to reach. Your dreams are always within your reach. Will you reach high enough or decide it's too far to stretch. Step beyond your comfort zone. The choice is yours.
Let others keep wasting time complaining about how things are while you focus on how you plan to make things the way you want them to be.

You will get in somwhere.

American Trucker
americantrucker2010.wordpress.com

Oct 06, 2010
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Thanks
by: Chris Hill

I know what you are trying to say Scott and I appreciate any help I can get. I just keep feeling like a failure to my family and staying here at her parents house has caused quite a few fights between us. My boys are starting to become proud of the fact that I am on the fire department but like I said earlier, that does not even come close to paying the bills. I don't want to give up on the trucking thing because I really want to be able to drive truck and start providing a better life for my kids. I keep feeling like I may have to put that dream on hold though until my felonies are old enough and my family cannot afford to wait that long.

Oct 06, 2010
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Paying Dues
by: Hervy

Chris,

Where there is a glass half empty there is also a glass half full. Though that fact won't provide much money or food on the table for your family, the reality is things could be much worse. You could be with absolutely no roof, strung out, or have absolutely no desire or understanding of the need to reach for more.

So what do you do now? Well you do what your doing for one. You keep trying. You keep on knocking on doors. It's a numbers game, every no is a step closer to a yes and an opportunity.

Obviously you have matured beyond the days in which you dinged your record. Keep a good positive attitude and stay on the right course and the time between the past and the present will continue to put you in a better position to get the results you need.

However, if you give up.......well, how can you see the results you need if you give up.

So don't.

Naturally it's stressful, but realistically your getting closer and closer to gaining traction Chris, as long as you maintain, stay positive and keep knocking on doors.

Check out some of these companies that others with records have had success with Chris.
trucking jobs for felons

One thing's for sure, that gig at the fire department will definitely help you out in the long run too. Good for you to volunteer there. Hold on to that ambulance job as long as you can even though it is volunteer. It looks good both by showing your compassion for others and how the people trust your judgment and level of responsibility.

You shouldn't feel like a failure Chris. Your doing all you can do. We all have made mistakes and we all will or have gone through hard times.
As the saying goes, this too will pass.

Hang in there.

Also Check out this page and add these things and other creative approaches to the way you reach out to those who may be in the position to give you a 2nd chance.

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