Happy July 4th - Freedom Day!

This has been one of the best July 4ths I've ever had. The day started out with LOTS of phone calls - Wayne and Arlene, Brenda, Carla (I'll explain her later). I barely had time to get ready for Trish's arrival. She drove down with her friend Ronnie who wanted to buy one of my microwaves and maybe some other things, and they wanted to take me out for lunch. They got here around 1:30. The first sign that today was going to be a good day was when I went into a part of my closet I hadn't gone through yet and tried on some shorts. Most of them were huge, but one pair not only fit perfectly, but I loved them! They're beige cargo shorts that flare out a little like in the 1940's. It was like finding my treasures in the garage (ie the French espresso maker, the water pipe, etc.) We went straight to the restaurant since I was really hungry. What a magical place it was. I'd been there once after it first opened, but it was in winter and we'd eaten inside. It's called Angelica's Bistro and it's in the back of an antique store. I wanted to go somewhere where you could eat outside and I knew they had this wonderful garden in the back with all these Italian fountains imported from Italy. We went straight to the garden, walking down this narrow path framed by trees and lined with ornate, wonderful fountains. They gave us the best table - right next to the owner Peter, a Londoner who is outgoing and warm and who immediately welcomed us and started telling us all about the restaurant and the evening musical concerts they put on. He couldn't believe we were all Senior Citizens (well, I will be in a couple of years) and said we made him look forward to getting there. We were there several hours. Each of us loved our entrees and we shared a scrumptious dessert crepe. Then I took them for a walking tour of downtown Redwood City, which they loved. We didn't get back home until 5 PM and it was 7 PM by the time they left. It was a wonderful, delightful, exhiliarating day and I loved being with my sister and one of her close friends.

Now I'll get to who Clara is. I found the perfect apartment. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. First yesterday morning I saw the cottage and it was horrid. I won't even give any details. I was extremely disappointed, and then after that I had some upsetting news, and I was in tears when Trish called me on my cell phone, wanting to find out how the cottage was. She talked to me for awhile, and offered to come that evening if I needed her. What I did next is an important sign of how far I've come in the last 6 months. Instead of just canceling my plans for the rest of the day (to look at more apartments, run errands, go to the bank, etc.) and going home to be depressed and cry, I pulled myself together and carried through with the items on my list. I saw a few places in San Carlos, which were all horrible, then walked into this really pretty, peaceful looking building to inquire about apartments. I thought it was strange there were so many really really old people milling about in wheelchairs and walkers and it turned out it was an Assistd Living place! Well, I'm not there yet. Then I called Carla to see if I could come by and see her place. She'd placed an ad on Craig's List and I'd called her that morning. I liked her right away and was excited about her place, but there were stairs involved - it's the second story of a 2-story house above where she lives. She'd encouraged me to come see it anyway, and I felt I needed a lift.

Well. It's paradise. It's a carriage house built in 1910 set in the most beautiful English garden. The master bedroom even has a balcony overlooking the garden. It's in a lovely part of Redwood City and I've been wanting to stay in Redwood City. Carla and I hit it off right away and I fell in love with the whole package - the setting, the apartment, living above her. I knew she liked me, too. But there was the issue of the stairs. I came home and called Deja, Trish, Wayne and Kate. They all agreed the stairs presented a major problem and counseled me not to go back and to continue looking. However, they all pointed out that this was a good sign, at least I'd found something I liked. So I released it and left a message for Carla reluctantly telling her I couldn't handle the stairs.

Then this morning two things happened. Carla called and said she really wanted me to have it and asking if there was any way I could manage it. I said no, and we agreed to keep in touch and she invited me to come by sometime for a drink or tea. Then Wayne called and said, since my heart was so taken by this apartment, that I needed to find a solution and he suggested getting an electric stairlift installed. Hmm. He'd even found a website and a company. I later looked on Craigs List and there are several companies around. Hmm. I started thinking more and more about it. It seems to me that what is most important for me right now is to be someplace peaceful, healing, where I can be happy and recuperate from all the trauma of the last several years. I can always move someplace else after a year or two. She doesn't even want me to sign a 1-year lease - it's month-to-month. I took Trish and Ronnie by there after our tour of Redwood City and they were enchanted by the garden. Trish said she had told me no yesterday to see how attached to it I was. We all talked about how my MS improves when I'm happy or away from the house and there's the possibility that I might not even need the stairlift. Arlene even said that going up and down stairs is good exercise, especially for the bones. So I left a message for Carla asking her to call me because I might have a way to make it work. I'm going to ask if she is open to the idea of my installing one later on if I need it, but I would try it without at first. It wouldn't be like living here, where I'm constantly going up and down the stairs. Once I'm in the apartment, everything is level.

I'm not going to give any more details about it in case I end up not getting it. And if I don't get it, that's ok, too, because now I know there are apartments out there like this. But it would really make the next month a lot easier if I knew I already had a place to go to. It would even facilitate my choosing what to keep and what to sell.

I'll end this VERY LONG post (sorry) with a very nice thing that Trish said at lunch. Ronnie is taking a class on "Awakening The Joy" and she thought I might be interested in taking it, too. Trish said I didn't need it, because even though I've had many low periods in the last few years, I've never lost my capacity to feel joy, and that is so true. I'll bounce back and forth multiple times in one day. I'm only a song or a joke or a good meal or good book or being with a good friend away from feeling deep joy - no matter what's going on in my life. Trish had asked me once, a long time ago, if I'd thought about what I wanted written on my tombstone. My answer was "She never lost her sense of humor." I've never lost my joy, my joie de vivre. I am so thankful for that.

So Happy 4th - Happy Day of Freedom.