A Busy Month

Well, Dean and I think that we see a speck of light at the end of the tunnel. We arrived in Summerdale, AL almost one month ago and it's been non-stop since. I do believe we are going to have a few days to relax real soon.

The day after we arrived, we went to see my Dad in Foley and I wasn't happy with what I saw. He was thin, his face drawn and very pale. I knew that I had a challenge ahead of me to get him back into assisted living. After visiting with him for awhile we left to come home but on the way, stopped by the assisted living facility where he had been before to check on availability or the length of the waiting list. Surprise, there where two vacancies. Now to convince him he needed to move.

The next day I called him in the morning and casually mentioned that we had stopped at Live Oak (the assisted living facility) and that there where two vacancies. His response was "so what". I dropped the subject. Later that day we went back to his place and met my niece and her husband there. I gave her a head's up that I was going to mention Live Oak again and for her to back me that it would be a good idea for him to think about. Well, the next surprise. When we arrived, he looked at my niece and said "Guess what? I'm moving back into Live Oak." Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather, I was in shock, but elated. I decided not to waste time or give him time to change his mind and by the next Wednesday, we had him moved in with all the essentials. The rest would come later as we sorted through all his things.

For the next three weeks Dean and I would spend almost every day going through the apartment, sorting everything into piles - things Dad wanted, things that some of the family may want, stuff for a moving sale and stuff for the trash. Believe me when I tell you, even though we had done this very same thing two years ago when we had just started our full timing lifestyle, my Dad is a pack rat and had accumulated a whole lot more stuff. He was also, when his health allowed, still dabbling in the flea market business which meant even more stuff to sort through. If he had one pen, he had one hundred! And scotch tape - enough to stretch from coast to coast I think!

This past Friday and Saturday we had the moving sale which ended up a fairly good success. What was left over we donated to the Rescue Mission. Personal items where packed up for storage and the apartment finally emptied this morning. The rest of today was spent cleaning, which, since he had someone coming in to clean every other week, didn't take us to long. Friday we meet the apartment owner to give them the keys and switch the power to their name. Whew - I didn't think we'd ever get to this point. At times it really was very overwhelming.

Now for the best part. Just when I though, wow, we can finally do what we want, my niece came by and asked me to help her with a garage sale for my sister (her Mom) this coming Saturday. I couldn't say no as she had done a lot for my Dad while we were roaming the country.

Just a quick report on my Dad since he has moved into Live Oak. He is eating regular meals, looking much better, seems to have a bit more energy, has a good outlook on life and is enjoying seeing old friends there as well as making new ones. He even had one of the ladies ask him for a movie date! Guess you never are to old - LOL.

I will also mention that since we have returned he was diagnosed with bone cancer - through his entire skeletal system. Fortunately, he isn't in any pain at this time and he is in good spirits.

For us now, we will be moving to our leased site (#20 at Rainbow Plantation), doing some much needed cleaning inside and out and starting the rounds with our doctors.

Y'all take care, out there on the road, and I hope we will see some of you in Florida in January.