One of the best thing to happen to me

In January of '01 the world changed for me. The rest of America changed on 9/11; I thought it was all over earlier when I was laid off at the beginning of the year. I've been fired before, but I was young and single then. Now I was 50, had a family, a mortgage, and a growing ulcer, and I was scared. The fact that I had failed this late in the game was almost too much to bear.  However, I soon found out this defeat would lead to me winning the ultimate victory in the game of Life.