From Scientist to Caregiver

I hadn’t realized how much my life had changed until I realized I was absolutely giddy over a can of oven cleaner which came in my food box. Just a few short years earlier, I had been an environmental scientist working for a major company with more perks than I could count. Now here I was years later, full time caregiver for my husband, who is totally disabled and homebound. It sure is a good thing we are friends. I don’t know a lot of couples who could spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week together. The only time I get away is during the 14 hours a week when his attendant is here. We live in a 38’ travel trailer and sometimes the walls start closing in, but as long as I can get up and walk outside I will be OK. It’s more than my husband can do and watching him keeps things in perspective. Such as the difference between a want and a need. I don’t need the Sunday paper, but I want one. When you live on as tight a budget as we do, you start to think about the little things you can do without. The only reason I am able to write this is because of the kindness of others. Even this computer was given to me. If not for the kindness of others I would go insane. This summer the community came together and gave us an old fashioned barn raising. It is awesome to be out of the sun and rain. This little trailer sure could get hot. About this trailer, it is a physical example of God’s promise to meet our needs if we will just turn over our problems to Him. It was 1995 and I could tell the time was coming when my husband would need full time care so I started cutting overhead. Since he had been a house husband for years and had no SS to speak of, my goal was to be able to live on $500 a month. It turned out to be only $400, but it’s OK. Anyway, it was a Saturday morning and we were homeless, not knowing where we would be sleeping that night. We were moving the last of our stuff out of the garage that went with the 4 bedroom house we had to let go, when a friend stopped by. He told us there was a woman in his trailer park who was moving that day and wanted to sell her trailer. He said it was old but she only wanted $240. We counted up and amazingly we had exactly $240. We went and saw, bought, and slept there that night. We still live in our $240 trailer. It is the coolest antique you can imagine. A 1954 model in excellent shape. She had bought it new, lost her husband within a few years, and never had kids. All the screens are still in tact. We may be poor as church mice but in every way that matters, we are a couple of the richest people you will ever meet.