Everything Happens for a Reason Kathryn Gundersen

When I was about fourteen, my dad lost his job. He wasn't at fault; the hotel he worked at was in a poor financial situation, so fingers were wrongly pointed at him, the director of sales. The moment I heard I felt that my comfortable world was crumbling down, falling to pieces around me. My heard sank, my stomach dropped. It was too horrible to be real.

For a while, things were difficult. Suddenly my dad was no longer the superhero I thought he was, suddenly he became a mere mortal. I could see the dissatisfaction in his eyes at every waking moment; he felt that he'd failed us. Finally, though, the tide seemed to turn; the fledgling company he'd founded with a former colleague was hired to help a luxury oceanfront hotel get back on its feet. A contract was signed, an agreement made.

But it didn't last. After about a year the hotel owner severed ties with my father's company, terminated the contract, and refused to pay him a portion of the money he'd worked for. He was left without work once again. Thankfully it was only a month before he was able to clinch another sales management job in a Manhattan hotel. He had wonderful credentials, and his charismatic personality impressed everyone.

Fast forward to...