To continue from Part 3...
On May 2, I got an email from the very kind president of the local chapter of our union (sadly, lack of support from the actual union had been a huge hindrance to us the whole while--thanks for nothing, SEIU) contacted me with the information that the City was offering me the chance to resign and get the incentive of two years of health benefits or cash equivalent they were offering to other people, as well as promising that I could resign for medical reasons and get unemployment as well. I had a deadline of May 11th to respond. I did, with the caveat that I had to have the offer in writing. This offer made me feel optimistic for the first time in years.
Of course, the City, having conceded to the fact that I was continuing to fight and making their life complicated especially on the legal front due to the DFEH investigation, just HAD to procrastinate and put off getting anything to me in writing until May 31st. They offered the deal I described above with the caveat that I had to drop the DFEH case and give up any future right to sue for the same issue. And of course, in an act of such petty spitefulness I could only laugh after everything else, I only had one day to decide. After reviewing it with my DFEH rep and a lawyer who could confirm it had no tricks, I took the deal.
June 1, 2011, I signed the paperwork, submitted my letter of resignation, and was finally free. It is impossible to describe how amazing it felt to be done with it all, finally and officially done. I literally felt the weight of mountains fall off of my shoulders. When I applied for unemployment insurance and it was granted, more weight fell off. Granted, there are still some financial difficulties, but nothing I can't handle. I am free from an oppressive work environment. I am free from self-serving, dicatorial, petty, spiteful, and cruel management. I am free from the worry of waiting and wondering. I am FREE.
What am I doing now? Right now I am blissfully happy taking summer school. After I pass this anatomy and physiology class, I can apply for the program to become a Nuclear Medical Technician. I am thrilled to be embarking on this new career path.
It is an Erudite Family saying that this is the season of the Reinvention of Erudite Aspie. I have cast off the shackles of the bitter past, and am looking forward to a glorious and rewarding new future. It will take a lot of hard work, but I can do that. It will have obstacles I am sure, but I can get around those. As my Grammy and Mom taught me...there is nothing you can't do if you really want to. In the middle of the worst time in the Salinas Public Library I knew that if I continued to work hard, act with dignity and honesty, and not stop fighting, I would eventually come out on top. It was a much longer and harder road than I had thought, but I am at the end of it now. And I am free to become whoever I want to be next.
Because after all, the only limitations we have on us are the ones we put on ourselves.
And I will not be limited ever again.
God bless you all.
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