I had a long break from this blog, didn't I? Something like 4 years break. There was a point where I began using Facebook way more than this because it's so easy. If you're one of my Facebook friends, you can visit my page and see many posts with information and pics about trips I took while I was in Thailand. Facebook kind of picks up where this left off.
This morning I've felt that Facebook is too busy and I needed more of a diary, so I'll try this again. I want to try writing about my experiences moving back to Oklahoma and attempting to become a caregiver for my mother.
Until two days ago I was living as a retiree in Sabaneta, Colombia. It's a separate city on the south side of Medellin, and is served by two Metro stops, so I consider it part of Medellin. I left there rather hurriedly because my mother became very sick. I flew there immediately to spend two weeks with her in Oklahoma. We really thought she was at the end of her rope, but she bounced back and is doing quite a bit better as of this date. However, during those two weeks I spent with her I saw that she and my step-dad needed someone to help out with the things they can't do anymore. They don't want to enter assisted living, and I don't see the need for that yet, but someone really should be spending a lot of time here helping out. My sister isn't up for that, and there's really no one else.
I spent almost two years in Medellin. I am involved with some business activities, but the weather was the main thing keeping me there. If you search for Medellin, you'll see that it's constantly referred to as "The City of Eternal Spring". It's not far from that. I will miss the weather there. But after this scare with my mom's health, I felt I needed to be here. I discussed it with her and decided to move back to the USA. I'm not sure if we discussed it enough, certainly not much of a plan about it at all: move here, attempt to take care of things they can't do anymore, and see how it goes. I'll do the best I can. If, after some time, it seems we're all driving each other crazy, we'll have to come up with another plan. So I sold all my furniture, packed up three huge bags, flew to Oklahoma and moved into the spare bedroom of their home in Rush Springs, Oklahoma.
The Wikipedia page fails to mention the most notable thing (to me) about this little town: an ordinance against dancing in public. I remember waking up to the 1991 NPR news story that one could now dance in public in Rush Springs without being hauled into jail. It wasn't the only town, at least four other Oklahoma towns had dance bans that have since been lifted. Yep, that's the kind of area I'm living in now. They bill themselves "The Watermelon Capital of the World". This interesting article delves into the dance ban history, as well as the connection to the film Footloose.
Last night I got here after spending two days traveling. I'm still pretty tired. Having some coffee and trying to think of what I should do first. Think I'll take it easy for today, try talking real easy to them about what I'm doing here, and begin to feel out how things could be here. The sun is coming up now, time for another cup of coffee. Maybe shop for vacuum cleaners today.
