1983

Jim Finer is a middle-aged man going through hard times. The economy was undergoing recession. The real Growth Domestic Product rate was 7.7%. The unemployment rate was rather high at 10.4% and the employment rate was 57.2%. The inflation rate was 3.7%. Hurricane Alicia just hit his Texas home and destroyed everything. He lost his youngest son, Arnold, age six. He traveled his two other children and wife up North in hopes to find a way to restart their lives. Luckily for the Finer family, new jobs were created and Jim was able to find a job. As new houses were being built, Jim and his oldest son, Kirk, worked all day to meet deadlines and came home late. This left his wife, Marie, and his daughter, Flower, at home. Since Flower wasn’t old enough to go to school yet, she kept her mom very busy. With a hyperactive three year old, Marie found ways to make extra money. She was an amazing knitter at the time and sold most of her stuff to her dearest friends.

When they were all home together, the Finer family was happy. Kirk became much like his father and dropped out of high school in order to work to help out in hard times. As a teenager, Kirk wanted to have fun and be with the ladies. He was a typical teen, yet he couldn’t do what he wanted because the family needed the money. He started to rebel against his parents and quit his job at the construction site. His parents were not happy with this and kicked him out. Kirk was now a teenager on his own. With the economy still in recession, he was able to find another job but not without weeks of starving and living on the streets. He began to realize it would have been better if he stayed home.

Jim and Marie started to fight after Kirk left. Jim was never home and Marie couldn’t handle little Flower. Taking on another job, Jim made his schedule so that he was never home. He found his own place and left his wife and daughter. Marie was highly upset, but decided to move on and do the best she can for her daughter. Many of her closest friends helped out by babysitting while Marie found a job of her own. A few weeks after Jim left, Kirk came crying back home, only to find a broken family. Marie gladly took Kirk back in and things finally seemed at peace.

With her son back home, Marie was able to calm down her schedule to be there for both of her kids. As weeks crawled by, the Finer family, or what was left of it, were getting ready for Flower's fourth birthday. The economy seemed to be getting much better as they shopped for presents and party favors. The day of the party was approaching and many close friends started to drop by. Barbie dolls and slinky toys were pouring in as Flower opened the boxes. An hour into the party, Jim came back to see his little girl. A big fight broke out between Marie and her husband. Flower started to cry and Kirk stormed out.

A week later, Marie filed for divorce and gained most of Jim's money. Kirk and Flower were spending many siblings days together. They were a happy family once again. Jim lost custody of his two children and moved out of town. The Finer family was split up, but no one seemed to mind. A year later, Marie remarried, Kirk found a wonderful girlfriend, and Flower was getting ready for kindergarten. A happy family going into a good economy was all the Finer's needed.