Dear Joan,

Boy could we swop stories!  Did you know you cannot be a widow, and
disabled, until you are 50?

Hilary Blue (4 months and 29 days to go )

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Stan or Joan Snyder wrote:
>
> Dear Bruce & all: I'm going to try to be as objective about this as I
> can. I would rather get in the ring with Mike Tyson & go for 2 rounds
> than relive this experience; the outcome would be the same, but at least
> with Iron Mike, I'd know who the s.o.b. was who sucker punched me! My
> fight with this institution began in April of '93. I was so gullible! I
> had a wonderful talk with a very nice lady who filled in all the forms
> for me & said that yes-I was the type of person the system had been set
> up for; worked long & hard; sometimes 3 jobs at a time. (I was a
> bartender & a darn good one, too!) I had letters from past bosses, from
> my docs (altho not from my nureo-I was still afraid of him!) & she
> assured me that I would be approved without delay. After 14 months of
> heart-breaking denials, I went to retain the services of a lawyer who
> specialized in SS Disability cases. At our first meeting & until I
> signed a waiver promising to give him 25% of my back benefits obtained
> by him for me, he was like a kindly, older gentleman who hated to get
> involved with all of this "dirty business" but he was, he assured me,
> only in it to help people like myself who truly deserved these benefits,
> had paid into the system & suddenly found themselves unable to work
> anymore. I was to call him if I had any questions-any time night or day,
> & he would personally see to it that I was given a green light to
> discuss all aspects of my case. The next year was the most degrading,
> dehumanizing & demoralizing of my life. As soon as SS found out that I
> had retained legal counsel, it was as if I had become the enemy...
> & my lawyer went into this duck & hide mode. When I called his office to
> ask a question about the mile-high stack of documentation, or to see how
> things were going, he was never around & his robot secretaries were no
> help. I did get one very official correspondence from him. It was a
> severe (albeit nicely worded) tongue lashing telling me to leave this to
> him-these things are of a delicate nature and required time. Heck, time
> was on his side: the longer that my case dragged on, the bigger his
> chunk of back benefits would be. Meanwhile, we were living on my
> husbands' income as a City building Inspector; not a bad wage if you
> didn't have to pay mortgage & car payments & send 2 kids to Catholic
> school!
> Finally, on March 1, 1995, I was granted a hearing before a judge. I was
> scared to death (which ultimately played ito my favor-my tremor &
> symptoms were bad enough that it only took the judge a half an hour of
> questioning to come to the conclusion that I wasn't trying to scam
> anybody & that I definitely deserved SSD-
> but that he could  not in good conscience grant it back to 1990 since I
> had worked
> part-time during the time my husband was overseas with Dessert Storm. I
> was floored! That was the first time that I had heard 1990 as the start
> date of my disability!! Before I could think, the judge pounded his
> gavel, scheduled another hearing 4 months later, & dismissed me. That
> lawyer never had a chance-I was so upset & sobbing like my life depended
> on the outcome of this mess! I sobbed after the judge, please, please-if
> I deserve it now, could you please just say my disability began today. I
> wouldn't take anything in back payments...just, please let me get off
> this insane merry-go-round of stress & heartache! You can bet that my
> lawyer had me hustled out into the hallway in mere seconds. He explained
> that
> he had my best interests at heart-getting me a large back settlement
> would truly vindicate me! BULLS---! It meant that his cut would be MORE!
> I said that I was going back in there & tell the judge that I didn't
> want anything-if he would just start my payments NOW. My lawyer slinked
> into chambers & came out in 2 minutes saying that he & the judge had
> agreed on stating that I became disabled 6 months prior, & that I would
> receive back benefits from that date. I still wonder if those two were
> in agreement about my case before ever entered the hearing room but
> no-that would be illegal! It still took about 4 months to start
> receiving benefits-the lawyer has to be paid first & the books closed on
> the case. Since that time, I have sworn off  beating my head against a
> brick wall! In his song "Get Over It", Don Henley says: "Let's kill all
> the lawyers-let's kill them tonight!".
> He was speaking metaphorically & I am not at all into violence, but this
> is something I could probably get excited about! I'm kidding, honestly!
> So there you have my saga, Bruce. I can only say that I do not envy you
> the process you are about to undergo. I can only hope that they made it
> a little more "user-friendly" like they were supposed to do with the
> IRS. I will wish you Godspeed and remember you in my prayers.
>
> --
> Joan Snyder (47/8) "Do or do not. There is no try."-Yoda
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/snyder/page1.htm