My Dad (The GearJammer)

Yes...i do agree. There are allways two sides to every story. Like i said in my post if you read it again...how my dad was so commited & devoted to the union. Does that not have a statement in it's self? If you take a moment to pause...to think where i'm going w/ this? If i had gone into detail of some of the good things that the teamsters have done, would your reaction still remain the same? When only being able to write about an experience that you have gone through in this short life that we live, & only being able to summerize it & put it in a short blog post. Witch was only to give a little rememberance & respect to a man that was such a devoted membor to a union that in the end, by an error made on a peice of paper was disrespected & dishonored, for his great devotion to allways take care of his wife, even through death. What if this happened to you or your family? What would your reaction be? What would you do? (This message is for Cybergal).

 

Here is another reason why this bothers me so much...a few years before my dad passed, my wifes father had passed away. He was also a union member. Now my father-in-law, & mother-in-law were married for 15 yrs. However, at the time of his death, they were divorced, It had been several years since the divorce, & my mother-in-law was re-married to another man. And upon his death, she still received his pension, & is stll receiving it. Now,however that may be, my mom & dad were married 47 yrs....47 years...how can that be? How can they let someone else receive there husbands retirement, when she was divorced & remarried to another man, & then deny my mother, in whom my dad loved so dearly & faithfully for 47 years!? Yea...the union said because they signed off, & that paper was noterized, & that they knew. Well, wake up everyone! The day of the honest hard workin man that goes by a man's word & a firm handshake is gone, out the window...

 

Here is some answers on some of the questions that you had, latanea...my mom read your post & sent me this reply today 9-11-2008. My mom has allways been a private person, & in her best wishes, to honor my mother, i have kept quiet about what had happened up until recently, when they denied her appeal. My heart was torn & i felt this uncontrollable urge deep within to tell this story. My mom reads all the letters, & blogs that i post, & it just brings tears to her eyes...she tells me she is glad that i am letting others know, & it brings her some comfort to read & stay in touch. So i hope this little bit of info might help make a little more sense of this situation... "I WAS READING ALLL THE QUESTIONS THE MAN WROTE AND I KNOW I'D ONLY HAVE RECEIVED 1/2 OF DAD'S PENSION. HE EVEN SAID WHEN WE LEFT THE UNION OFFICE ON THE DAY WE SIGNED THE PAPER: "YOU'LL BE GETTING 1/2 OF MY PENSION IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME. IT WAS NOT EXPLAINED. WE NEVER HAD ANY MEDICAL EITHER WHEN THE PAPER WAS SIGNED, AND IF I REMEMBER RIGHT, WOULD NOT RECEIVE THIS EVEN. I DON'T REMEMBER DAD EVER MENTIONING ANYTHING ABOUT A 401K EITHER. EVERYTHING HE MADE IN WAGES WENT TO HELP OTHERS. WE HAD AN INSURANCE POLICY FOR BOTH OF US -- IN FACT FOR YOU & KARI WHEN YOU WERE AT HOME == $25,000 FOR HIM AND $10,000. FOR ME AND BOTH OF YOU UNTIL YOU GUYS LEFT HOME. WHEN DAD TURNED 65 THEY NOTIFIED US THAT THIS INSURANCE POLICY WAS CANCELLED OUT FOR BOTH OF US. TO GET A SIMILAR AMOUNT WOULD HAVE BEEN COSTLY -- I THINK OVER $300.00 A MONTH, WHERE WE'D BEEN PAYING $107.00 EVERY 3 MONTHS FOR YEARS -- SINCE HE WAS IN HIS EARLY 30'S. SO THIS WAS A BLOW, TOO, TO US. WE WENT LOOKING FOR INSURANCE ELSEWHERE AND CAME UP WITH GLOBE LIFE WHICH WAS ABOUT $140.00 FOR BOTH OF US EVERY 3 MONTHS FOR ONLY A $5,000. POLICY. I INCREASED IT ANOTHER $5,000. AT THE 1ST OF THE YEAR HE DIED, BUT THEY WOULDN'T ACCEPT IT. SO I ONLY GOT THE $5,000. AMOUNT AND HAD TO PAY THE REST UP FRONT. THE COST WAS WELL OVER
$10,000. EVERYTHING WAS A NIGHTMARE. I WAS JUST EXISTING AND I KNOW GOD TOOK ME THROUGH THE DAYS CAUSE PEOPLE WERE PRAYING FOR ME. IT'S REALLY HARD, YET. I HAVE NOT FULLY OVER ANY OF THIS -- IT HURTS SO MUCH -- I KNOW IT WAS THE WORK OF THE DEVIL -- BUT JESUS IS STILL VICTOR!!
LOVE YOU VERY MUCH.... AGAIN, THANK YOU! KEEP IT UP, KEVIN!"
If ya need more info just let me know...