Chapter 63 Section 14 The police came to my house

There is a phrase that pops into my head, "Don't cry over spilled milk".But it's not milk, it's my blood. The most tragic day of my life happened in 1933 when the sheriff came in through the front door and I slipped out the back door.I lost my home on Long Island, the home where my son and daughter were born and where we lived together for 18 years.I can't believe this is happening to me. Twelve years ago, I was still full of ambition. I sold the film rights of my novel "The West Side of the Water Tower" to a film company, and the price was the highest in Hollywood.Our family has lived abroad for two years.We spend summers in Switzerland and winters in France—like rich people.

In Paris, I finished a novel in six months.Starring Will Rogers, it was his first sound film.The studio offered me to stay in Hollywood and write a few more screenplays for Rodgers' films, but I declined.Back in New York, my troubles began. I gradually felt that I had a potential that had been dormant for a long time, and I imagined myself as a successful businessman.I was told that John Jacob Astor made millions investing in vacant lots in New York.Who is Astor?Just an immigrant with a foreign accent.He can do it, why can't I?I want to get rich!I started reading yachting magazines.

For all my courage, I know no more about buying and selling real estate than an Eskimo.Where do I go to raise the money to start this business?The answer is simple: use my house as collateral, buy a batch of land, and sell it when the price is good, so that I can live a luxurious life.I have full sympathy for those who work hard in the office and get paid.Apparently I was only gifted with this kind of financial talent. Suddenly, the Great Depression hit me like a hurricane. I have to pay $220 a month for that land.And the months go by so fast, and of course I still have to pay the mortgage and keep the family fed.I'm starting to worry, I'm trying to write some humor for a magazine, but it's heavy and not funny at all.I can't sell anything.My novels also sold poorly.The money ran out, and there was nothing left to cash in except the typewriter and the gold inlays for the teeth.The milk company stopped delivering milk, and the gas company went out of gas, so we had to use little camping gas cans that hissed like an angry goose while spitting out flames.

We had no coal to use, and the only means of heating was the fireplace.In the evenings I would go to the construction sites where the rich people built their houses, picking up planks and sticks, and I was one of those people. I was so worried that I couldn't sleep, and I often got up in the middle of the night to walk around, making myself very tired before going back to sleep. Not only did I lose the land I bought, but I also lost all my hard work. The bank seized my house, and my family and I could only live on the streets. We finally got some money and rented a small apartment. On New Year's Eve, 1933, we moved in.I sat on the suitcase and looked around.An old saying my mom used to say rings in my ears: "Don't cry over spilled milk."

However, this is not just milk, this is my life's hard work! After sitting there for a while, I told myself: "I'm already weakened to the end, the situation can't get worse, it can only get better gradually." I started wondering what else I hadn't lost.I still have health and friends, I can make a comeback, I don't feel bad about the past, I have to remind myself every day what my mother used to say. I put my worrying time and energy into my work, and the situation improved little by little.I am now thankful that I had the opportunity to go through that, because I gained strength and confidence from it.I now know what it is to hit rock bottom, and I also know that doesn't break people.I know better than we think we are much stronger.Now, no matter what small difficulties or troubles, I always remind myself what I said to myself while sitting on the suitcase: "I have fallen to the bottom, the situation can't get worse, it can only get better." These little things will never happen again. annoys me.

Don't worry about the past!Accept the inevitable!When you can no longer fall, there is only one way up!