Facing unemployment, couples resort to 'commuter marriages'
EVERETT, Wash. -- On Sunday evening, Bob Handshy was sitting in his bachelor pad eating chicken and rice for dinner.
"When I first left, I couldn't catch my breath," Handshy said. "It was really hard."
His family is nearly 2,000 miles away, at their home in Wichita, Kansas. It wasn't easy, but Handshy said he had to leave his wife and three kids behind to support them. His youngest is just a year old.
He was staring down unemployment in Kansas and had an offer for a steady job working for Boeing in Western Washington.
"There was no way I was going make it on unemployment, with three kids and a house payment and everything. It was really hard."
Handshy now crosses off days on a wall calendar, counting down to his next visit.
Its a story unfolding across the country as the recession creates more and more "commuter marriages."
"It's pretty good money but moving around is not what I want to do," Handshy said. I want to be somewhere where my family can stay with me"
His two roommates are also in similar situations, having moved here but left their families behind in Wichita.
Handshy's wife stayed in Kansas to take care of the kids and the house they own. Their goal is to find long-term work here in Washington or in Kansas.
"When I first left, I couldn't catch my breath," Handshy said. "It was really hard."
His family is nearly 2,000 miles away, at their home in Wichita, Kansas. It wasn't easy, but Handshy said he had to leave his wife and three kids behind to support them. His youngest is just a year old.
He was staring down unemployment in Kansas and had an offer for a steady job working for Boeing in Western Washington.
"There was no way I was going make it on unemployment, with three kids and a house payment and everything. It was really hard."
Handshy now crosses off days on a wall calendar, counting down to his next visit.
Its a story unfolding across the country as the recession creates more and more "commuter marriages."
"It's pretty good money but moving around is not what I want to do," Handshy said. I want to be somewhere where my family can stay with me"
His two roommates are also in similar situations, having moved here but left their families behind in Wichita.
Handshy's wife stayed in Kansas to take care of the kids and the house they own. Their goal is to find long-term work here in Washington or in Kansas.