I never thought feeding my kids and taking care of them would be a difficult task until I lost my job with the police department. When it came to feeding them and my pets, I often went hungry so they had food to eat. If I had a few bucks, I’d buy one of those huge pizzas which would barely fit in my car and we’d eat pizza for several days. I also made what I called ” Larry’s Poor Man Spaghetti.” This consisted of whatever pasta I had with minced garlic, butter and tossed with parmesan cheese. It was satisfying and my kids loved it. I always made sure there was fresh fruit at home. Jim, the owner of a 7-Eleven store on one of my old beats would give me fresh fruit every week. I’d let some of the house bill’s go so I could stock the house with food. Whenever possible I made sure my kids had well balanced meals and snacks. Things were tough but my kids and I survived. Despite the enormous pressure I was under, I couldn’t let the department win.