Camping out
We finished cleaning Helen’s house around the middle of September. I began the next steps after coming back from Texas – organizing piles, reducing duplication, pitching trash, donating unneeded, cleaning carpets, and replacing switches/receptacles. Still, we couldn’t get over the feeling of camping out. We still don’t have all our stuff unpacked, Sarah, Julie, Adam and I share the same bathroom/shower, etc.
When the weather cooled down in October, I spent several hours at a time outside. Since the trash company only takes 10 trash cans/bags of cuttings a week, I work outside until I have my weekly quota complete. Cutting down just one thorn bush required over 14 trash cans and a couple weeks. I cut down three trees which grew too close to the house or interfered with nicer trees. The vines had grown so big that they threatened bushes, trees, and half of Los Angeles (the movie should come out in June 2015 if the North Koreans don’t take down my server).
Since my parents and our neighbors planted most of the trees over fifty years ago, the falling leaves pose a major problem every autumn. My weekly plan worked well at keeping the leaves in check. I prefer the peace and quiet and relative ease of raking rather than the noise and weight of a leaf blower, but eventually I relented and pulled out the old leaf blower that I bought (I think) for my folks about 20 years ago. It performed admirably for two sessions until a loud grinding noise scared me into flinging the thing into the air. Turning it off would have been easier, but reflexes work faster. The dead carcass showed signs of self-destruction rather than rocks.
We heard a little mouse running back and forth in the ceiling/walls back in June. Sarah found him while cleaning a couple weeks later. I gladly disposed of the carcass without ceremony. We lived in peaceful assurance that no other woodland creatures inhabited the house until October when a cold snap forced another mouse to seek warmer accommodations. Sarah clearly saw him walking across some light fixtures in the basement. We found him a week later in a peanut butter laced trap I hid in those fixtures. He joined his kin again without ceremony. So far, the stray cats which occasionally hang out around the house have kept mice away from the house while Rachael keeps us safe inside.
Travelling to Texas
Our trips to Texas continued every five weeks on schedule. We combined the October trip with a reunion of my college friends from the Baptist Student Union. We hadn’t seen each other for some 25 years, but began where we left off. Sarah and I had the youngest kids. Most everyone else had grandkids that age. We camped out with my brother and his wife – Peter and Marla – while in Texas. This trip included allergy shots, GI doctor, feeding supplies, friends, gifts for Julie/Adam, shopping, and mail. We returned to STL exhausted and sick.
I learned to bring a variety of LED flashlights and nightlights on these trips. Julie prefers bright lights and noise while Adam needs quiet and darkness. I spend the first night balancing placement and size of the lights to keep everyone at peace and safety while providing enough power to recharge all our electronic devices.
Our dentist scheduled an outpatient procedure for Julie at the Plano Children’s Hospital during our October visit. He had to reschedule for the November visit which occurred during Thanksgiving week. The dental procedure only required a thorough cleaning to remove heavy calculus (tartar) buildup. Julie awoke from the anesthetic grumpy. She didn’t believe me when I told her that she would sleep. The hospital staff efficiently attended to our every need. The cleaning took about 30 minutes. We left about 4 hours after arriving.
We learned that she will need these cleanings regularly until she begins eating orally. Eating tends to clean the teeth to a certain degree. Until she eats, Julie has little defense against buildup. The dentist taught us a more aggressive brushing technique (for both kids) that will help a little. Julie hates this new brushing ritual, but endures it rather than facing the hospital again.
We spent Thanksgiving with Peter and Marla while Julie continued to recover from the general anesthetic. My niece and her new husband shared the meal with us (their second meal for the day).
The December trip came after Christmas. Both kids started with a minor cold which hung on throughout the trip. We loved staying in a hotel provided by Peter’s bonus points for four nights. The room had more space than most, a large kitchen area, and plenty of storage. The kids kept Sarah and me up most nights, but we got through this camping trip eventually.
A car shop in Texas replaced our SUV’s gas tank back in the fall. The fuel gauge (which hadn’t worked properly in years) acted strangely afterwards. I wanted to find the bottom of the gas tank, so I could know how to read the gauge and know when the tank had really reached empty. While making a turn off the tollway, the car felt like it almost died. I knew I needed gas, but ignored the problem since the car acted properly immediately again. I parked at (what I thought was our hotel) and left the car running to keep Sarah and the kids warm while I checked in. The car died while I determined that our hotel was just around the corner. Sarah and I grabbed the kids, diaper bags, and some important luggage and walked over to the right hotel (just a couple hundred yards away). While Sarah got settled in, I got a gas tank and filled the SUV. So, I had found the bottom of the tank but only had to walk a few hundred yards in town at midnight rather than miles on a country road. They had replaced my huge 32+ gallon tank with a 26 gallon tank. Now I know how to read the gas gauge and that the range of the car dropped from 425 miles to 250 miles.
Giving and Receiving
We always try to schedule meeting with at least one or two families during each trip. Our friends continue showering us with gifts and food. Earlier in the year, they also gave us hundreds of dollars in cash. Each gift raised our spirits for the needs met. Some gifts came just in time to pay rent or utilities; some gifts paid for prescriptions and feeding supplies for Julie when Medicaid dropped the ball. Meals fed us when food stamps ran out. I didn’t have to sweat over little necessities like toiletries, cleaning supplies, or gas. While the potential for poverty and homelessness terrorized us daily, God used many people to supply every need. We still don’t know how to get our heads around our situation – inexplicable, disquieting, and fragile.
You wouldn’t think that we have no income. After all, we live in a nice, finished basement with two bedrooms, large family room, and my own office. The kids had three Christmases this year – one in Missouri and two in Texas. Another friend gave us a large box full of very nice clothes.
In 2014, we endured repetitive sickness, car repairs, and insurance problems. So many setbacks that I can’t remember even a fraction of them. We have lost our home, friends, and dreams. For several years in a row, we said “good riddance” to the old year while remaining hopeful for the coming year. On the one hand, God has permitted terrible events to overcome us, but on the other hand, He has prevented them from overwhelming us.
Sarah invited some new STL friends to our house for Christmas dinner. They hadn’t any family in town to share in the holiday, so we got together for a few presents, some fun and lots of food. In turn, they had family members who showed up unexpectedly. In total, we had almost 20 people in the house including seven kids. We survived my cooking which the other families supplemented with salads, sides and desserts. Sarah noted the irony of the unemployed family hosted the working families. I tried to express our wonder at the tables full of food by welcoming the crowd to “our poverty.”
Moving to STL
I joined the ranks of the “discouraged worker” for part of the summer. The feds call an unemployed person who wants work – but doesn’t apply anywhere – “discouraged.” After reviewing my resume, I started applying again in October, but didn’t feel any less discouraged and just as unemployed. I’ve only had two interviews in 15 months after over 100 applications (20 in December). I don’t know whether to chalk this up to the crummy job market or God’s provision while I take care of my mother. I have decided to stop looking in Texas and focus in Saint Louis. I hope to begin writing more this coming year as tasks around the house begin to diminish.
Some of our Texas benefits expired at the end of December, so I began the renewal process for Missouri. Please pray that we will continue to qualify and that the conversion won’t take too long. We filled Julie’s prescriptions on the last trips to Texas, so we have enough sprays, ointments, and medicine for several months. But, she has only enough feeding supplies to last until February. We can’t afford to skip more than one month without coverage and doctors.
So with expiring benefits and no job prospects, we plan to change residency to Missouri permanently. It broke our hearts despite the hardships of the 1200 mile round trips. The kids took a week to recover from each trip and the extra expenses ate away at my mother’s resources. Our friends, the Poulain’s, got a good job in Oklahoma City. This mitigated our sorrow for moving away from our friends who had become our spiritual and emotional support system.
Pray that we will find a GI doctor, dentist, pediatrician, feeding supply provider, and therapists for Julie and Adam. Pray that God will provide us a steady income soon that will meet all of our needs.
Andy, Sarah, Julie and Adam Horn