Let’s not stress about being five days late for National Stress Awareness Day on November 3rd. Today is as good a day as any to identify and reduce the stress factors in our lives. After all, stress management is critical for maintaining physical and mental health and protecting relationships.
Ten years into our marriage, Robert’s business—Adaptive Living—had become a huge stressor on our relationship. For six years he operated out of a home office where he worked day and night. Finally in November 1991, he saw the light of day when he moved out of his basement office into a commercial office building in the Erie Canal district of Rochester, New York.
Want to subscribe to receive blog updates sign up today!
Robert saw a future in buying the property because it was close to downtown Rochester and Kodak’s world headquarters. The purchase was only possible because God graciously answered our prayers by providing as follows:
- The Small Business Administration (SBA) loan program was funded the year of Robert’s application to buy a commercial building.
- Robert was the first Rochester business owner in two years to qualify for the SBA loan for people with disabilities.
- The SBA commercial loan interest rate was 3% compared to bank rates of 16% and the SBA mortgage term was 20 years compared to bank terms of 10-15 years.
- Robert was approved at an affordable price for the life insurance policy required by the SBA; this had been a concern due to Robert’s dwarfism and lack of data on life expectancy for those with his type of dwarfism, Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia.
- Renovation funds were part of the SBA loan and matched by a City of Rochester community-development grant allowing for much needed building improvements.
- The city cleaned up neighborhood debris, demolished a derelict building, and added a fence behind the property.
All was well until I learned that the SBA loan required me to sign as guarantor and use our home as collateral. I was distraught. If the business failed, my salary could not cover two mortgages and we could lose both the business and our house. For me it was a deal breaker. For Robert, not to do so was a marriage breaker. Amidst my tears and protest, Robert promised me that if the business could not pay, he would get another job to pay the loan. And so, I signed the loan papers with extreme reluctance.
The intent of moving the business was not only for Adaptive Living to grow and be physically more accessible to clients, but also for Robert to be more accessible to me.
So did the business move reduce our stress as planned? Find out by reading the rest of the story in “Pass Me Your Shoes,” chapter 12, Seeing the Light of Day, pages 83-84.
BARGAIN HUNTER’S ALERT: the “Pass Me Your Shoes paperback is discounted below the cost of printing and a Kindle edition is now available.