The Near Future

Last week I told me son, who I live with, that I was going to get an apartment closer to the VA. We live 35 miles from the nearest VA Clinic and 55 miles from the nearest VA Medical Center. It’s a two-lane highway to the nearest four-lane highway. Unfortunately, that four-lane highway has a three mile section that is only two lanes. Plus, there’s a stoplight just when it turns back into four lanes. I’m too old to have to put up with young drivers these days.

I went looking for some a place to live that was close to a VA Clinic and a reasonable distance to a VA Medical Center. I lucked out in finding an apartment in Plano, Texas, that is four miles from the VA Clinic and across the street from a light-rail station that will take me to the VA Medical Center in Dallas.

The apartment is a one bedroom with a shower, not a tub/shower combination. I have severe arthritis in my knees and ankles plus peripheral neuropathy in my feet. The idea of climbing over the side of a bathtub to take a shower is something I’d rather not do. My son was nice and took out the bathtub I was using and put in a shower. He can be nice when he tries.

I received an email from the apartment and I’ve been approved. I’m supposed to take possession of my apartment on October 1. My plan is to leave the last Saturday in September. I figure it will take four to five days to get to Plano. I will head southeast to northern Utah where I can go south to I-70 and then south to I-40. From there it’ll be east to Amarillo and then southeast to the DFW Metroplex and eventually Plano. I’d prefer going east of I-80 to Cheyenne and then south to Raton where I can catch a two lane southeast to Amarillo. The only problem with that is snow on I-80 in Wyoming. There’s a stretch of I-80 in Wyoming that has been closed because of snow every month of the year.

Now, I have to figure out when to tell my son. He’s going to come up with all kinds of reasons why this won’t work. He’s a great was for coming up with reasons I can’t do something. He’s just one of your basic know-it-alls. He’s pretty much an expert on everything, which is pretty good sense he’s a high school dropout, but he’s read a lot of books. Plus, he’s said that he’s going to take care of me until I die, just like he did for his grandmother. The only problem with that is I have to be closer to the VA and I don’t want to live in or near to Seattle, so it’s off to Plano.