ABSOLUTELY NO BAIL OUT OF THE CROOKED BANKERS WHO CRUELY GOBBLE UP OUR HOMES, AND OUR HARD EARNED MONEY. GOVERNOR SARAH PALEN SAID IT SO WELL THE OTHER NIGHT WHEN SHE DEBATED SENATOR JOE BIDEN...."NEVER AGAIN!" WILL WE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ALLOW WALL STREETS GREED TO EXPLOIT THE HARDWORKING AMERICAN FAMILIES.
..........................................."NEVER AGAIN!"........................................
I find it very hard to have any sympathy towards the banks and investment companies that have been in the headlines in the last week, especially in regards to all the discussions of bailouts being funded by our government, ie: us the tax payers.
I and my family certainly did not have this option or opportunity presented to us when our hopes and american dreams were cruelly crushed by the banks, mortgage company and or investment banking institutions when my sub-prime mortgage was declared to be in default and my home/ranch in Shepherdsville, Kentucky was foreclosed on. We were forcibly evicted by agents of my mortgage carrier backed up by a sizable force of the Bullitt county Sherriff's Department.
This was an incredibly humiliating experience for me in the sight of all my neighbors and in front of my wife and three children and in the hearing of all my friends, extended family, clients,vendors, employees fellow church members etc. this was not a quiet private affair. It was done very publicly and was published abroad several times in the local media outlets as my property was placed on the auction block at the county court house with the public invited to take a stab at possibly profitting from my tragic misery.
I was present at the auction when my neighbor and the person counted to be my friend purchased my home and place of business for $75,000.00 less than what I owed on my Mortgage. My 5 acre 3800 sq.ft tri level brick home with 2 car attatched garage and 1000 sq.ft. metal pole barn/out building, 1 acre stocked fishing pond/swimming hole for my children that I personally dug out, and my vegetable garden, landscape nursery,corral and horse Paddock valued at over $300,000.00 was sold for $120,000.00
The value of this property, and what it meant to us as a family can not be measured in dollar amounts. This was not just a house. It was our home. Our Dream home. The home where my children were raised and grew up. The ranch where my Youngest Daughter April Kept and rode her Quarter Horse Bandit, that Horse also had to be sold. It was the fertile soil where we raised and grew our own food. It was the property where my Son Michael II shot His first White Tail Buck. It was the home where my Oldest Daughter Aimee graduated from Highview Baptist High School. It was the home Where all my family Fished and swam together in the Pond that we Built in the middle of the woods in the valley that ran through our Bottom land. It was the home where I had my shop and lawn care & landscape company, The company that served 3 counties, hundreds of satisfied clients, and employed dozens of people over the 10 12 years that we lived there.
We were the all american family of rugged individualists whose only son Michael II played all 3 sports, Football, Baseball, Basketball & was enlisted in ROTC training in high school, Aimee Beth, and April our 2 beautiful daughters were cheerleaders, on gymnastic teams, and both competed in beauty pagents at the county and state levels. My wife and I both held down Part Time jobs at UPS while I attended classes at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., Pastored a local Baptist Church, and Owned & Operated a Landscape Contract company.
Bowling Enterprises, LawnCare & Landscape Specialties. A Sole Proprietor-ship
It would take too long to explain all the details of how we lost our home, business,and our Great American Dream,.. A seasonal business, 2 years of extreme heat and drought, refusing to hire cheap illegal labor are just a few of the difficulties that led to our demise...
But I will leave it to your imagination, how easy it is to fall prey, to a slick mortgage broker selling a fix all debt consolidation sub prime mortgage loan to a young struggling family.
I was attending seminary , raising 3 exceptionally bright and talented children, operating a business, Was Pastoring a church and my wife and I were also working part time jobs for the health insurance benefits.
The refinance to a sub prime mortgage seemed like a good idea at the time....Not!
So you will have to excuse me if I dont think that we ought to bail out Freddie Mack & Fannie Mae et al etc.
Life goes on, and you can either keep on keeping on at living or get busy dying.
We decided to move back to our home town in Kalamazoo, Michigan as the failure was too much to bear and try and continue in that community subjecting my children to the cruel ridicule they were enduring amongst their fellows and quite honestly my wife and I too.
It has been said that when a door closes in your life, God opens a window....Even though this traumatic event took place in 2002 and we have never recovered to the point of being in our own home.
We have managed to finish raising our 2 youngest and watch all of our children blossom into adulthood, starting families of their own. We have graduated from being parents to becoming grandparents, going from 0 to 5 beautiful grandbabies in 3 short years.
Our oldest daughter, Aimee remained In Louisville with her husband Joe, employed at G. E. Aimee has an entertainment talent search company that she is co-owner with a partner in Los Angeles. They have blessed us with 2 beautiful grandsons.
Michael II Graduated from Heritage Baptist Academy and Married Jessica, a local Michigan Girl. Michael is currently serving in Army Intelligence and has blessed us with a Grandson & Granddaughter.
Our Youngest April Married a Local Plainwell Michigan Guy Tyler Bowman blessing us Last November 2007 with a beautiful Granddaughter, Alexis. They live here in Michigan, close to us. They are struggling tremendously in this terrible economic climate, both holding down menial service jobs currently living with Tyler's Father.
As for Beth and I...????
We Still do not have a home of our own. Beth was forced out of her job at UPS Ground Here in Kalamazoo. She transferred from UPS Air In Louisville where she was a very highly valued productive skilled worker...But The UPS Ground shop HereDid their level best to get rid of her from the moment she arrived. They placed her in one of the most physically demanding jobs they had. Her Male supervisor told her that she may as well quit because he couldnt even keep up with the pace that her job demanded and even the young college students they typically hired for that job would typically fail. Because of her gender and age they should have and could have given her a much less demanding job but she was eventually forced out for medical reasons with no compensation or benefits whatsoever. I,m sure we had great grounds to bring a lawsuit but thats just not our way.
Anyways, Beth is My widowed mothers Home healthcare chore provider and receives a very small check from the state every month. $324.00.
We live in my mother,s HUD subsidized apartment providing 24 hour supervision so that she can live independantly . We took her out of the nursing home shortly after moving back to Michigan because of our belief that families need to care for their elder parents, rather than putting them away in what usually winds up being deplorable, shameful conditions that anyone thats visited the type of nursing homes that poor people are placed in knows exactly what I'm talking about.
As for Me....I recently closed an internet based trucking freight hauling business that my wife and I operated for the past 2 1/2 years. "Logistical Solutions" Found on USHIP.com , User Name Concreteangel959 could no longer operate at a profit with the high price of fuel and increase in overhead that was occurring as a result of increased costs across the board.
I currently volunteer as a Servant Minister at Alpha & Omega Ministries & Praise Baptist Church. I was the founder of this Church and Homeless Shelter/Crisis Intervention Ministry back in the early 80's. My duties now consist of supporting the current Pastor Al Dines and Director Shirley Dines as part of the overall Ministry Team. I am in charge of the Maintainence of the physical plant of our campus which consists of 6 Residential Type houses and 1 Commercial Store Front Type Building where we meet for worship.
I Mentor Several of the male residents at our ministry who are typically dealing with recovery from substance abuse issues. I'm very much like a Chaplain and I have the privelage of leading a couple Bible Studies every week.
I am also what I call an Urban Prospector. This is really just a polite name for a glorified Dumpster Diver. I take the cash out of the trash and sell scrap metal to local junk yards and scrap processors for cash. One could probably make a modest living with this kind of work if I had more time to devote to it but my committment to our Church and Its outreach Ministry demands the majority of my time and energy.
I'm not sure how much longer My Mother Shirley is going to be with us on this planet? She is 66 years young, but her health is failing despite our best efforts to allow her to live out her last days with a good quality of life and with dignity, surrounded by her family and loved ones.
It is mine and my wife's firm belief That God is watching and that he is the one that ultimately provides for our needs. We also believe and hope that sometime in the near future God will Bless us with a home of our own as his word promises us that "He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him."
Finally, in the midst of all this political rhetoric, and campaign spin doctoring monkey business...I wonder how the Obama/Biden and McCain/Palen Presidential Candidates would "Honestly" Propose to promise to do something tangible to positively impact mine and my families lives in order to persuade us that they would be worthy of earning our support and votes this November 2008
Respectfully Submitted
Rev. Michael D. Bowling Sr.
105 E. Walnut Apt 2313
Kalamazoo, Mi. 49007
269-344-4952
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