January - August 2023

FORGIVE THE LENGTH OF THIS POST, BUT I HAD TAKEN NOTES OF OUR LAST YEAR FULL-TIMING AND NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DOCUMENT THEM ALL.  vc

WHAT FOLLOWS IS YEARS 2023 and 2024  

The year 2023 has been a one with many ups and downs. It has been a stressful and challenging experience. Instead of detailing each event, I decided to list the places we visited, the losses we have dealt with and hopefully end on a high note.

JANUARY:

We spent a wonderful New Years in Big Pine Key, one of the Florida Keys.It’s my favorite area thus far, so I booked a month for next January so we could ring in the 2024 in my “Happy Place.”

MARCH:

I threw a big party to mark my 50th year of living with Type 1 Diabetes. I had the event catered on our lot and celebrated with friends and neighbors. I made a nicely decorated table with loads of food and drink! My favorite table was the Cosmo Station.  I had a big jug with a spout that dispensed the mix. Then the mix was poured into a shaker with ice and strained into a lovely plastic cup!  We had a deluge that lasted about a 1/2 hour, but everyone managed to get covered up and protected. It passed by and eventually and the sun came back out. That's Florida weather for you. 

APRIL:

Easter 2023, we broke tradition and we all loved the changes. We spent the Easter holiday with my Tampa Crew. On Friday, we packed up and headed to Clearwater Beach. It was a picture perfect afternoon spent relaxing in warm, breezy, sunny weather. George and Meily put up umbrellas and at one point, the breeze picked up taking Meily's umbrella yards down the beach. George came to the rescue and all of us stared at him in utter disbelief! He was running after the umbrella. Never has anyone witnessed George run that fast. I can't neglect to mention that he was suffering from Plantar Fasciitis, so as he ran, he was limping. Poor George. I felt guilty, because I couldn’t stop laughing. Next time it took flight, Lola retrieved it with a bit more grace, but not much. We had a good laugh and as I document this moment in time, I still smile at the memory. 

Easter Day was spent at the house and for once, I ordered a whole meal. I figured Meily and I would have a break from prepping, cooking, and then having to clean up afterward. Well, it turned out to be a huge failure with us needing to assemble, cook, heat up or bake each portion of the meal. The kitchen was about 90°, we had a lot to clean up and we ended up hot and sweaty. We looked at each other and said, "Never again.”

We filled the few days with getting manicures and spent a whole (very hot) day at The Purple Heart Park. This place offers a lot of different activities like a food market, a kids race track with big plastic tractors. There was a petting zoo and I got to show off my "Dr. Doolittle" talent of communicating with birds. I was able to get each Cockatoo and Parrot to converse with me. While I have no video proof of my extraordinary talent, it WAS witnessed by two of my granddaughters who were quite impressed. 

Another fun part of that park was walking through the "Little Town." It was a child-sized town with every building a real town would have - pharmacy, bank, church, sheriff's office, jail house, movie theater and car repair station. Adults could fit into the detailed buildings and enjoy the creativity of whoever created this little town. A lot of time, talent and effort went into this interactive adventure. I was jailed by the judge for a tiny infraction.  I don't know who had more fun, the adults or the kids.

MAY:

Our “plan” was to head north for my eldest granddaughter’s high school graduation. It was a special event that I ended up missing. 

From this high point, things took a nose dive. We cancelled plans and reservations and headed to New York.  

JUNE: 

In June, George's step-dad passed away after a short illness. With his passing, George's mother needed to move into a safer living environment. We were fortunate to find a very nice apartment in a lovely little town close to George's sister.  Before she was able to move in, she fell and broke her hip. I can't make this stuff up. Sadly, she landed in rehab before settling into her apartment. 

Croton Point Park drastically changed their allotted reservation window to 90 days. What helped was us having non-refundable reservations at Thousand Islands in Alexandria Bay, so with George's mom close to his sister, we decided to go to leave for a couple of weeks. It was a fun time with our RV group, The Hudson Islanders. Many had been there before, so we followed along like little chickens as they took us to all the special places. We took a boat trip on Alexandria Bay and had dinner on an evening boat cruise.

On the way, we stayed at a Harvest Host in Susquehanna, PA. We met a nice couple, Michael and Ronny who were heading to Thousand Islands also.

We also made a stop at Finger Lakes RV Park near Watkins Glen and hiked the falls at the State Park.  

Next stop was our destination, Thousand Islands Campground, in Alexandria Bay. It turned out that we were just two miles away from Michael and Ronny. We had made plans to get together, but they had to leave early. 

AUGUST 2024 - October 2025

By the time we finished our allotted days at Croton, George’s mom was diagnosed with End Stage liver cancer. Life made a left turn and we ended up moving back into the house and placing the RV into storage - we needed to remain close. “The plan” was to fix it up the house and list it for sale in the spring.  As George’s mom worsened, we moved her back into our home. I set up the brightest bedroom and tried to make her feel like she was home, but more importantly, wanted. I like to believe I succeeded with both.  Just when I felt “bad” couldn’t get worse, it did. During her decline, I was diagnosed with Stage1lung cancer. I opted for a robotic procedure that removed a section of my lower left lobe. I was fortunate that the procedure got it all and no treatment was necessary. Yet recovery was difficult with being the main caretaker and picking up where I left off with even more hands-on care.    

She passed on October.  We returned to a life so quiet and slow that it took us a while to adjust.

It is now October 2026. Life is about to change again.  Stay tuned.