Sunday, December 14, 2008

Opportunity still knocking

Friday after work I went and met Dorothy. I talked to her a lot, saw the house, met her dog and found out what she's looking for.

In the beginning she would be looking for pretty basic care. I would cook dinner for her, help her with her shopping, do the laundry, help her get into bed at night, etc. As she progresses I would probably be doing more in-depth care and helping her out more. I did learn, though, that never in the course of my living there would I ever be her sole caretaker. She has a HUGE network of friends and people helping her out. It's quite incredible, really.

She said that between dinner and her bedtime I would probably be able to have time to myself, go visit Steve and Jordan, etc. She also said that if there was a time that I needed/wanted to go away for a couple of days or had other plans or whatever, it would be easy for her to get other people to come help her out.

I said, "So, it sounds like you're looking for something fairly casual, just reliable." She said yes, that's exactly it. She wants to know who's cooking dinner for her and that somebody will be there to help her out with the important things.

I asked her a little bit about future care and what she envisions needing from me and she said she's honestly not sure because she has no idea how things will progress or how quickly. That's understandable - it's different for everyone. She did say that she'll eventually have a feeding tube, which I knew. She asked if that would creep me out and I said no, I don't think so. She said, "Well, it creeps me out!" My mom said she used to deal with feeding tubes all the time in the special needs classroom she worked in for several years. She said you quickly get used to them and they're pretty easy to use.

I'm still very excited about this opportunity. I told her I need to think and pray about it some more and talk to some more people so I probably won't make a decision about it until around the first of the year. Right now I am STRONGLY leaning towards yes. But I do want to visit with her a couple more times and ask some more questions. I want to be sure before I commit. And it's not a commitment that I would take lightly.

The house is really amazing. Her kitchen is newly remodeled and looks like something off of a cooking show. The bedroom that would be mine is painted a soft yellow which is not a color I would ever paint a bedroom but it looks sooo relaxing. The backyard has a deck with a grape arbor and I think I saw a little fountain back there. It's so pretty. It's in a quiet neighborhood and is just a couple of blocks from my cousin's house. I think I would really love living there.

As I type this, I am SO ready to move. My downstairs neighbor is coughing and hacking his head off. I just cleaned a bunch of black mold off my bedroom windowsill (that I had no idea was there because those curtains stay closed). It smells. It's loud. I don't want to be here anymore.

Please keep praying for me! There are SO many positive things that could come from this. (I added up how much money I could save, even in a short amount of time. All I have to say is wow.) I would love to get to know Dorothy better. I told her that even if I don't move in and help her in that way, I would like to help her in other ways. She is such a sweet person. I can see myself being incredibly blessed by just having her in my life.

1 comment:

Carrie said...

That is so awesome! We'll keep praying.