Family Success Story The Brekels
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eet the Brekel family—Jared and Julia, and their children Kaitlin, Madilyn, Nathan, Ryan, and Reagan of South Omaha! The family has two dogs—Brewster, a Shih Tzu, and Tubby, a Boston Terrier/mini-Poodle mix—and a gecko named Godzilla. “They are a huge part of our family,” Jared says of the pets. “They are like kids to us and siblings to the kids.” Jared and Julia have been married for 16 years, during which they have maintained a solid friendship. “We are very close,” explains Jared. “We have our bad days, but we work through them.” The Brekels believe their relationship has given the kids a good foundation because it has taught them the importance of teamwork, trust, and respect, as well as what a strong friendship truly looks like. That foundation, however, was tested when the Brekels home was lost to a fire shortly after Julia had lost her job and was facing unemployment. “We had to live in a hotel for three to four weeks, and then in a rental house for six months,” adds Jared. “Because of the financial strain, we ended up having to leave that house and move again.” Having to continuously move between homes with little to no possessions was hard on the family; but even worse was the fact that they had to come to terms with the fact that the house fire had been caused by the boys. “No one blamed the boys,” he says. “[They] were obviously devastated by their bad choice, but the whole family stuck together.” To overcome their guilt, the boys took a fire safety class—and one of them actually went through counseling. “It is still brought up occasionally, and you can see the sadness and regret…but no one makes [them] feel bad.”
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From left: Madilyn, 13, Julia, Ryan, 7, Reagan, 5, Jared, Nathan, 9, and Kaitlin, 18.
Although the fire is behind them, the Brekels are still trying to overcome their financial strains while pushing passed normal family struggles. To ease some of the burden, the two older girls work—one has a part-time job while attending college and the other babysits—and support the family when they can. The younger boys play sports, so most of the family’s free time is spent cheering for them, which helps take their minds off their troubles and get in some much-needed bonding time. “Sticking together and working together” is what Jared believes helped his family make it through the tough times, though he wouldn’t count out the support from their extended family and friends. “Both sets of grandparents were so supportive, and our closest friends were actually at the house, as it was burning before the firemen were there. We are very blessed with the people in our lives! It would have been easy for everything to fall apart and have our relationships all change over the course of the past few years, but they grew stronger.” Jared and Julia think most of the family’s success during this hard time is due to their five, amazing children. “They had to grow up and mature fast after everything crumbled…Our daughters are the best role models for our younger kids,” says Jared. “Both [Kaitlin and Madilyn] understood and never complained about having to go without. They were grateful for what we did have and were so mature about the whole situation. We are so proud of them. The younger kids had a harder time adjusting, but they did great as well. “It was very hard, and things were—and still sometimes are—very tough, but SPECTRUM everything that happened made things better in some aspects.”
family
• • • • November 2012
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