Friday, December 24, 2021

Just More Thoughts Along The Way

 My friend Philippa wrote a lovely thought to me yesterday and with all that has been going on, I wasn't able to respond until today. She wrote, "What a horrible middle to the end of Roy's working life weekend. You know he called you as he walked out of work for the last time, and look what happened in the end, you both ended up driving home together and pulling up into the new home you both have created."  Those words have meant so much to me today as we still work through all of this. 

We have an angel working at CVS and I do not know how she did it, but all three of his prescriptions that he just had filled before leaving Houston were filled and ready today, here. She also got two of my prescriptions moved up a couple of days and the cheapest I have ever paid for those two meds. Roy has spent most of the day working on the insurance claim. We received a very nice call from our agent's office in Katy today. Roy is only replacing one of his Toastmaster recognitions. We also talked with the cell phone company and kind of have an appointment tomorrow. 

On Sunday our pastor called us to check in and see if there was anything he could do. He said they had just prayed for us as a family. I also talked with him on Saturday while driving to Mobile. The great advantage of attending a local church.

An observation while listening to phone conversations, even call backs with people, when Roy is asked to tell his story. He is consistent and has told about the crime the same way. He said did you notice the change in attitude when I told her I have a case number and gave her the name of the detective? Guess there are people who commit fraud. The first year living here two guys tried to make a rear ended accident and it should have worked, but God. I just happened to be on the phone with Roy because Adult Protective Services had called him. I was distracted a bit.  My father had filed another fraudulent report on us and I needed to call APS back and not return the call from the grocery store. Long story short, I did not hit the back of his truck and when the guy in the car in front of him, pulled over and got out of the car yelling, I saw everything. I saw her rear end you...and there hadn't been a hit or a scratch...they moved on really quickly. 

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This morning Roy said I think I am returning to normal. Of course I'm thinking of him processing emotionally everything from the past week. No, it was finding his routine, his new normal in retirement. We decided last night unless there was a call back or an emergency kind of thing, he would stop working on all this paperwork at 5:00. It is important for him to have a schedule and now that he has his blood sugar testing kit and the like, it adds more to the start of a routine in a normal day. It is important for him to have an evening of leisure, sleep comes easier and much more relaxed. Roy processes life so much differently than most. He is level headed and it is not that he stuffs things compartmentally, he just logically checks things off inside him just like he does any of his lists. There have been a few times I have seen him get emotional, once was my first ablation. He told me later he had no idea how serious those procedures are and he began to understand what I had been dealing with. I think that is when he began thinking about where we should retire so both of us would have a quality of life. He is such an Ephesians 5 kind of guy, loving his wife as Christ loves the church. 

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Not too much time to write yesterday. We were out the door early hoping to be the first or second customer at T-Mobile. We were the fourth customer at 10:03. This gave Roy a choice of looking around at phones. He has been a android person phone wise and I am happy to report he has left the dark side and has come into the right, he bought an iPhone yesterday. The new free iPhone 13 is not available to Sprint customers, who now are a part of T-Mobile. You feel welcomed but you don't always get the same deals because you were a part of Sprint. I don't know how that really worked but nonetheless, got the phone because they had the medium sized one in stock. Supposedly the switch over fro Verizon, I am the Sprint customer now with T-Mobile, was to go smoothly. Roy had all the info from his former company. After about three hours at the store, we came home, fixed lunch and I was checking on the Feral Fam when T-Mobile called to let Roy know there had been difficulty in switching over from Verizon. Long phone calls and customer service at both companies were so dedicated to helping Roy and we thought they had fixed the problem. Nope, Roy made another call and so most probably it will be Monday when this is all fixed. His phone still has a burner number associated with T-Mobile or maybe Sprint. The last customer service representative was very helpful as well. No matter what, Verizon is loosing a customer not out of spite or anything, the T-Mobile deal is better and all the free stuff offered by Verizon, Roy is not all that interested in. Verizon was one of the companies that EPD used. Back in the day they dropped Sprint as one of the companies. Oh well....

Since today is a holiday at most offices, Roy is taking off Christmas Eve Day as well. Of course, that doesn't apply to things being done around here. It will be 71 tomorrow. Last year it snowed over Christmas. Monday morning Roy told me that he will be getting up at 5:00 am every morning. It's almost 7:30. I think I will cut him some slack. 

It seems so strange that our car has seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. It has probably been chopped up for parts or has now found a lovely home in Mexico. I checked out the social media of Holiday Inn while waiting in T-Mobile. Read some of the tweets and it looks like everyone affiliated with that company passes the buck back and forth. Robbed? Well, contact the local HIE, they can do more than the corporate offices. The other responses have been just as tepid. Where is the hope of having anything rectified when the management of the I 65 HIE in Mobile hasn't even contacted Roy. Basically, we just want the late check out fee waived.  Not on Saturday, not since returning home. Roy said it is probably a franchise and thus corporate isn't too concerned. My friend Lynnie has given us some good copy to work with as we get to that point. Hope we can afford her rates. Roy's decisions are thought out and processed, since he is taking time he must be composing a doozy of an email. He will walk in love but he will make his point. 

Throughout this week I have thought so much how I learned as I watched Carole Lewis trust God in hard seasons of her life. She once told me in a conversation, I am grieving but I will not grieve how some of my friends want me to. That is a trust in God statement for sure. God knows how we are made, cause He made us, Psalm 139. He is with us. That is what Christmas is all about, Emmanuel. Thank you Carole for teaching me how to walk in the disappointments in life and still have fun. What an impact you have made. It is finding those things in which to be grateful. Like the screw in the tire last week. It was small and hadn't done any damage but who knows what might have happened if I hadn't just came upon it last week. Icing on the cake, no waiting. They were able to look at the tire immediately. Yesterday, some of our what ifs crept back in and we both looked at each other and said, we have to stop this what if-ing. 

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