Jennifer Hensley:
CLASS OF 1991
Eisenhower High School Class of 1991
Blue island, IL
Florence Nightingale Elementary SchoolClass of 1987
Chicago, IL
Jennifer's Story
I've had lots of jobs since graduating high school, but the longest was with a law firm in Oakbrook, IL.
I worked there for 5-1/2 years until they started changing A LOT of their business practices and it stopped being fun, so I left in March 2005 and in April 2005, I started working from home doing transcription work. First, I started working with a friend of mine helping her out and then started working for several different transcription companies until, finally, I got enough clients of my own and started my OWN transcription company, Jenz Transcription Services, look me up on the Web!
I have to say that I LOVE working for myself and working from home, setting my own hours and working around MY schedule. Of course, there are some tradeoffs, too, mainly no paid vacations and I work twice as hard for less money, but the perks are worth it. I get to be home to take my son, Ryan, who will be 16 in July, to school and pick him up from school. Flexibility in my schedule is important as I need to be able to take Ryan to his therapy 3x per week and I've yet to find a 9-to-5 job that will be THAT flexible.
I moved to Florida, the sunshine state, back in 2007 and don't miss the Chicago winters at all, especially as bad as they've been the past couple of years. However, summer in Florida is HELL and I'm glad I don't have to go outside very often and spend most of the day in my air conditioned apartment with my furbabies...my beloved pooch, Niko, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and our new all black kitty, Majik.
2014 was a horrific year. My boyfriend, Chris, who decided to finally make the move to Florida to live with me in July 2013, after hurting his knee on the job and being off work on WC ended up losing the job he loved. Then, due to depression over losing his job and boredom of not having ...Expand for more
a job, started drinking again which led to us fighting more. That, plus the fact that his dad was having a lot of health problems, led us to decide we needed a "break" and he went back to Illinois to spend time with his dad and family, give us some space. The plan was for him to stay a few months and then come back to live with me in Florida. Sadly, he never made it back. On 6/11/14, Chris passed away due to a fatal seizure in his sleep. Little did I know when I said goodbye to him at the airport on 2/1/14 that I would never see him alive again. My heart is broken and I don't want to live without him in my life, but I know I have to carry on for my son, Ryan, more than anything. But it is so hard when the person you were planning on spending your life with is no longer with you.
It has been 8 months now and I'm still as raw and as in shock as when I first learned about his passing. I will never get over this. It has changed me. That part of my life as I knew it is over and I am trying to adapt to my new "reality" of life without him but it is so difficult. I did make some positive changes in my life. I went back to school working towards my degree in Medical Coding & Billing and finished my first semester in fall 2014 with all As and have made the Dean's List due to outstanding academic performance. I finally landed my dream job of working in a law firm in Tampa as a Transcriptionist, part-time in the office and part-time from home, allowing me time to take my son to school and pick him up and also time for my schoolwork and studies. It is the perfect situation for me. So I have a lot to keep me busy but still cry myself to sleep at night because the loneliness is so palpable. I miss my best friend, my lover, my soul mate so much. He is forever in my heart but I wish he were in my bed instead.
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