No place like home....

"I want to go home”

“There’s no place like home.”  Immortal words uttered by Dorothy Gale after a cyclone ripped through her Aunt and Uncle’s farm.  But what was her reality when she finally made it back to the place she yearned and hoped for:  more of the Great Depression, hard work in a bleak landscape, maybe life would change after her fantastical journey to a colorful and foreign reality.  An experience like that should temper your life and your choices right?

Melissa also wants to come home.  Her “Toto” is waiting her to comfort her on a journey to the unknown.  She has stairs to conquer, bathrooms not equipped for her special needs in her current state of disability (which will change slowly), a rambling living space designed for those who are very mobile.  Nobody ever thinks of creating their dream home to accommodate situations that develop through aging or bad luck disability.  Melissa and I have often discussed designing a home with such features “just in case”.  I have seen these events occur in my family and Melissa’s and now it has struck like a bolt of lightning on our wonderful life together.  

I am very good at making something out of nothing, my theater craft and my childhood experience and creativity will come in handy.  You take what you have and you adapt.  My Parents taught me at a very early age, you can make a situation a positive one despite the circumstances, despite the odds that are set against you—be strong, be creative, stay focused on the goal.

Yes, she will come home when her Care Team feels she is ready or the insurance company says no more.  The insurance companies control the health process, boy do I get that.  I want her home but she must be mobile, eat and no stomach feeding tubes.  I know she will REALLY heal once she is in her comfort zone.  This will “up my game”, but I am ready to get Melissa back on track.  So as Glinda tells Dorothy that she doesn’t need to be helped any longer. She’s always had the power to go back to Kansas. “I have?” Dorothy asks. The Scarecrow exclaims, “Why didn’t you tell her before?!” Glinda responds, “She wouldn’t have believed me. She had to learn it for herself.”