While I was teaching, drawing a crowd, another new home

While I was teaching Mama, Grandma, Grandpa and Normal loaded the contents of the little rental house Grandma and Grandpa have been living in for a over a year into the RV purchased that morning, keeping back only enough clothing and personal items to get them through the next week. Larger furniture items and appliances are going to be sold off this weekend and Norman will return to collect Grandma and Grandpa Wednesday of next week. I will probably go over this evening to say my goodbyes. Chances are I will not see them again in this life. Only now is the reality of what they are doing starting to dawn upon them. The nearest of Grandma’s siblings will be over an hour from where they will be living.

Closer for certain than they have been, but not close enough to be a part of their life in any practical way. Norman will be on the road more time than not, so he will not be very involved in their daily life in any practical way either. They will be somewhat isolated living out of the RV. Mama and I are still not sure where the RV is going to be parked but we have been told that they will be about 90 minutes from Orlando, FL. Eventually everything will work out, but there will be some adjusting in the beginning to figure out how to begin their new life in their new setting. New banking arrangements, new places to shop and pick up their prescriptions, new doctors to find and get in to see, plenty of new neighbors to meet, etc. It should be interesting to see how quickly they are able to adapt. We will definitely be praying for them. I hoe at least some of their expectation will be met, but they have managed to be disappointed in the end with every move they have ever made. Sadly, this will probably be their last move. I am praying I is a good one.

Class yesterday went very well. My back was hurting more than normal but I made it through by leaning on the lectern that was set up for me and sitting quite a bit more than normal in the stool provided. All but one of the six participants was a fellow employee, so I structured my presentation a bit differently in order to tailor it to the needs of those I work with versus those who work in the oil and gas industry. The lone client in the room did not mind at all how the presentation was given, in fact, he told me at the end of the class that it was the best training class he had ever attended in all his years of work in the industry. That was encouraging.

I was worn out – as I typically am – by the time I had packed up after the class and driven home. Mama and I ate a small dinner and I sat in my recliner to listen to Dan Bongino as I drifted in and out of sleep for about an hour. When I finally roused myself, it was time to get ready for church. Mama was already ready, so, we got to church early. In fact, we were among the very first to arrive. That always makes Mama nervous for some reason, but it always gives her more time to visit. She almost always has a group of youngsters around her soon after she arrives. Primarily the young girls in the church. They talk nails and jewelry and chickens and other sundry topics. They are always interested to know what is happening in Mama’s world. I do not consider our lives particularly interesting, but those young ones do, and they revel in those moments of connection before the service begins. It is always fun to watch, to not be able to sit with Mama before the service because I cannot get into the pew by reason of the crowd she has gathered.

I will be in class tomorrow but not as the instructor. Hopefully, I will have my computer to use tomorrow. The last time Red taught a class I had to give him my computer for the day because we could not get his to connect to the class properly. I am going prepared to give up my computer for the day, but I hope it does not come to that. I have plenty to do if I have my computer to work with.

Mama and Victoria are talking about getting Victoria an RV to place here on the farm to offer Victoria a place of her own. I am not enamored with the idea, but I am not opposing it. Setting up an RV requires a good deal of work and a good deal of money. I am just not convinced that the layout of thousands of dollars to provide a small remote living quarters is a good way to spend that money. Can it be done? Of course, it can. Should it be done? Probably not. Will it be done? Perhaps, but not easily. The ball is rolling now, and we will just have to wait to see how this investigation turns out.

Once the price for the setup is known, we can make the decision.