Not to make it a long drawn story crying out loud about how bad things are. Well, ofcourse they are. A layoff or reduction-in-force as they like to call it is never a pleasant experience. They always catch you at the worst time, with zero plans and ideas on what to do after waking up the next day.

In my case, this was right before the Christmas holidays on the day my mother was arriving from India to see her daughter and growing family – two small grandchildren. I was packing up my bag to leave a little early to be home while my husband picked her up from the airport. Thats when the news was delivered. I was numb. Just numb. Called hubby from train and told him not to tell my mom. The next couple of hours were bitter sweet. I went about preparing for my mom’s much anticipated arrival and was so happy to see her, touch her, have her in our home. But, the big rock in my heart was weighing down and after a couple of hours of not letting out as much as a hint – I finally could not control it anymore. So, on the first night of my mom’s visit as I went in to say GoodNight to her – I also told her the news and told her I will be going back tomorrow to do the paperwork.

On the way back after the last signature, I wept shamelessly in the near-empty train and had no idea what I was going to do next.

More of my job search and survival story in the next part..