Marqueritte Clasquin

Have you ever been in a situation that your best friend is in trouble and there is not a damm thing that you can do about it, well I have !.

I just hope they dont read this, because they won't like it, and why not, because they dont want me to worry and worry and get sick about it, but this is how it is.

If there are ever two people that dont deserve this it is these two lets call them Mike and Ann.

Due to a few emotional family problems things have gone drastically wrong with their  financial situation..She has three jobs, doing everything she can to keep her head above water, and he, he is struggeling to keep his shop open due to this ressesion. But due to this ressession and the one that has just passed us, he has totally locked all emotions and locked everybody out of his life (except his wife) To the world he kept a dark secret a secret that  says "everything is okay, okay we don't have a worry in the world." Something inside of me said "something is wrong, totally wrong"and I started to slowly but surely ask questions about their financial situation. She smiled and said"everything is okay he is completely in control of everything" How do you know that I asked? Because I asked him how are we going financially and is everything all right and he always replies that he's got everything under control. Wow! I am so happy for you but do you ever get to see anything!. No,! she nearly screamed at me" I trust him, we trust each other and I am not going to break his trust". That is what scared me the most the fact that she trusted him so much that she never even takes a peak at the bookkeeping or even the filing system. My thoughts were it is not about trust it can be that you are interested in the situation and what to see for yourself, but who am I everybody is different.  I started to slowly wander around in their house to find their finling system, you know a file with the gas, water, electricity, the file with the bank statements, and nothing, nothing at all, the only thing I found was a file which said" urgend" . Some days later I asked her if I look have a peak into that file. "sure"she said go ahead and then the entire problem riped open as if the world has now come to an end splitting the earth into two pieces the good and the bad, and we are now on the bad half, the hell part, the one debt collector after the other and the amount raising to nearly 25 thousand euros outstanding.What to do !?. I quickly started to help them, getting the filing system in order, getting him back to earth, but whatever we did the amount is still  getting bigger and bigger because of the fines three hundere euros  in fines only,  plus  the amount owed and also not to forget the normal way of living that also goes on and on. We were standing with our backs to the wall and I say we because she is my friend, a problem she did not cause at all and  just because she trusted her husband so much she now has to pay the fine.

And I need to tell you she is not the only one, another lady also trusted her husband, she had her own hairdressing salon and he was at home. the salon was roaring, doing so well, but meanwhile her husband got a little bored at home  and started gambling on the computer and so he ,gambled  everything away ,she had to sell her salon she worked so hard for, the car just everything to pay off the debt.. I am not saying that the men are the problem not at all,  I am saying that one should alway keep an eye one things and each other as the other person can get into trouble and is then to scared or much to embarresed to come clean and the problem gets to big to oversee.

But to get back to my friend , what can I do, lend her the money? I am  afraid that could mean the end of a friendship a friendship that I want to hold on to? and is that selfish of me???., They say that one can get into a kind of saving system that takes 3 years and you are out of the shit caused. Ha ! that is not so easy as it sounds, we tried everything, but let me tell you we and again I say we haven't given up yet as they are my friends and what are friends for if you give up before they do. I will keep on fighting with them because they deserve it and that will keep them strong to fight this problem, save money here and there, and I hope that 2012 can give them the boost that they need.

Imagine that you as a friend gives up before they do, what kind of a support is that

To all the Mike and Ann's in this world, keep your chin up ,you can do this, ,as a friend said to me once you know Marqueritte I don't have any money but I have lots of things. In 2012 change this sentence to I don't have any things but I have no debt.

Love you all Marqueritte