I was able to turn around and head home. We were only about 25 minutes into the drive.

We get home and I’m already feeling like shit, when I walk up to the front door and see that Dominion East Ohio had shut our fucking gas off.

It’s 20°F and our house is cold to begin with.

We’ve had our utilities shut off in the past and I’ve been very honest about that. Life is a struggle and it’s not easy to keep up with the everyday type things, when all the special needs demands take up every last ounce of time and energy I have.

What made this particularly upsetting is that I had spoken with them on November 28th. I wanted to double check the minimum amount that I needed to pay. Money’s impossibly tight and I sometimes have to do the bare minimum, which is better than nothing at all.

It’s not something I’m proud of but it’s the reality I live in.

The woman I spoke with on the 28th explained that the amount due was roughly $700 that was the minimum amount due. She then said that the winter program is active and that means I only needed to pay $175.00 in order to keep the gas on through the first of the year.

I did that but also explained that I would be paying a little extra because I wanted to make some progress. She said it was no problem and so I made a $250 payment. I made sure to do things exactly as instructed because I wanted to make sure nothing got shut off and I was grateful for what I felt was catching a break.

She told me that I was good and since my payment was over the $175.00 mark, it would automatically trigger the program.