transplanting

BCE05011-526C-4162-8C8A-414CBCDC75C9 — The great warrior cat, Muta, guards, protects and keeps cool.

Saturday. 4:34 pm. 95 Degrees F (35 C).

The house is pleasant with the window air conditioner working in the living room and the portable air conditioner at the other end of the house in the kitchen. We’ve been puttering all day, only pausing briefly to check outside on how hot the hot really was. Julia unpacked our CDs onto the rack. I rearranged furniture; consolidated boxes, put the IKEA tv table together, organized the electric cords for the tv, air conditioner and internet, put stuff that I have no room for on Facebook Marketplace and answered email. It has been a productive day but strangely unsatisfying.

I have 10 boxes left to unpack (There are more boxes in the basement but most are storage boxes. At least, for now.). Inside the 10 boxes is art, pictures, and decoration. Funny, I think I started with 10 boxes of art, etc., and I’ve unpacked a few. Is the art multiplying? Continue reading →

Posted on 21 July 2019 by Suzanne Buchko 2

growing home

“Emptiness refers to the absence of something that, for some reason, one expects to find—as when we say a glass, normally used to hold liquids, is empty even though it is full of air. The point is not that there is nothing there at all, but rather that what is there differs from your expectations.” ~William S. Cobb, “The Game of Go”

Expectations. Emptiness. What I hold on to that I don’t even form into thoughts, into the stuff of consciousness. Unconscious expectations. Ah, that is interesting stuff.

Sunday. Julia is up first, watched some tv, folded her clothes and taking a shower. For days, her lack of independence compared to her typical peers has been what I see and I have felt such sadness. For me, for sure, but more, for her. Listening to her move around our new home, sounds that are unfamiliar and not easily identified, I see, ah yes, I see, expectations. For all that I preach, to myself and others, about natural unfolding and patience, I am still comparing her to peers. I am comparing peacocks to robins. Continue reading →

Posted on 15 July 2019 by Suzanne Buchko 2

oops

Small adventures. A visit to Newton-Wellsley Hospital for help applying for Julia’s MassHealth insurance and then hours at my desk filling out the supplemental disability form. Done and mailed and waiting.

A visit to the MA Registry of Motor Vehicles on Monday to get (1) my license, (2) MA plates and (3) a non-driver’s license ID for Julia. I didn’t bring sufficient documentation for my license and I don’t yet have sufficient documentation for Julia’s ID. And Oy, registration and plates. I need my title to change registration and I don’t have one.

It’s a long story, a perfect example of the perils of procrastination. Continue reading →

Posted on 12 July 201912 July 2019 by Suzanne Buchko 0

notes from the spiral

A week and two days. Hold tight. This is long. I’ve taken notes. I am really tired and last night Cheshire and Justin brought over an “extra” air conditioner to take the edge off the heat. We’ve made it though the loading, the drive, the almost catastrophe, the arrival, the delivery, seeing our new home, a measure of unpacking, and our ninth death day celebration. Lots of being here with some worry on the side.

Beginning last Thursday. Closing on the Madison house and the journey out here were, as in any good transformative tale, challenging. My buyers hesitated and complained a bit. Wedding jitters? This might have been their first old house buy or their first buy together. My cleaners were responsible for some of the anxiety—the middle burner on the stove top probably still wet from cleaning did not immediately light and the cellar floor, still wet from a wash, suggested a wet basement. Then, the central air did not immediately switch on and blow out cold air, but I hadn’t run it yet this season and directions needed to be followed. Does anyone read directions? Eventually and with some realtor help, signing happened. I worried and fretted from the road and was happy and relieved that I had pre-signed what I needed to do last week. Continue reading →

Posted on 7 July 20197 July 2019 by Suzanne Buchko 0

hand up high in the air

5F64E1D8-9108-43E6-A05B-2CB997BB54D7 Yesterday. Two more sleeps.

Today. One more sleep. How many times did Julia and I do the “sleeps” countdowns when we were getting ready to travel? This time counting sleeps is for me. Are we really going? Will Boston really be there? Next week, this time, with a bit of luck, we should be in a house I’ve never seen, unpacking.

Today is our last quiet morning. Tomorrow, the movers come. There are still so many measures of uncertainty—no idea of what time movers are coming and so, what time my clean up crew can start. The buyers want to walk through at 2:30, or rather the buyer’s agent named that time. I’ve been visited by half of the buying couple twice to measure for a washing machine and to show her the garden, and I suspect that she is not pushing to do a walkthrough before the movers are finished, but who knows . . . The window for deliver is still July 1^st to the 8^th. With some luck, they will close that window up tomorrow. If it is the 1^st to the 3^rd, we will camp out in the new place starting July 1. We will be connected to the internet by noon on the 1^st. Cheshire has two air mattresses, I have 2 camp chairs, swim towels and our picnic stuff in the car. I have reservations for our travel nights and a plan to see Seneca Falls on Saturday. Passports and the cat’s certificate of health are in our travel folder. Continue reading →

Posted on 25 June 2019 by Suzanne Buchko 2

the penguin project’s wizard of oz

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Some pictures from the rehearsals and performances of Penguin Project of Sun Prairie’s Wizard of Oz. We are sad that this is Julia’s last chance to participate in this wonderful activity.

Early read throughs of the play.

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Continue reading →

Posted on 22 June 20198 July 2019 by Suzanne Buchko 0

packed and put away

0FAFD24A-F622-4366-AA49-EF120EA48B68 I am finished! Now, perhaps the words, a few thoughts will come. I have described the last two or so weeks as “not writers block.” Really, I always have something to say, some of it not incredibly inspiring, perhaps most of it not very inspiring, but usually cogent. However, recently I sit down at my usual writing times and discover that the words come slowly, are forced, and trite, are almost stupidly simple. “I’m having a hard day,” was the start on Tuesday and then nothing after that. Continue reading →

Posted on 20 June 2019 by Suzanne Buchko 4

party time

4A655602-8BA2-4354-915A-419EF1A29C0B On Friday, a day that threatened rain and wind and turned lovely at the exact right time, a few of the girls that Julia has known at West, mostly through choir class and cheer, had a small farewell lunch. Julia could not have organized this herself and because Julia does not have school friends who she associates with outside of school, I would have had a hard time assembling a group. But these lovely young women proposed a party and executed it flawlessly. Continue reading →

Posted on 14 June 201920 June 2019 by Suzanne Buchko 3

work arounds

9E740784-01C3-4054-855F-C8FE90F2BD80 Last Thursday: This moving to a different state thing with someone with a disability is not for the faint of heart. And today I am feeling pretty heart faint. Enough so, to let go of more of what I had planned to accomplish before leaving. Specifically, health insurance.

Explanation: Julia will qualify for a MassHealth program. Eventually. My goal has been a seamless transition—leave Forward Health, WI Medicaid, on June 30; begin MassHealth on July 1. This will not happen. (Ok, I was the most naive, cockeyed optimist ever!) And so, I am left with “eventually.” Information I’ve gleaned from various sources (all state employees or expert advisory staff) has been cripplingly conflicting. Ex: At 18, she can apply for MassHealth as a single adult. At 18, I have to apply for MassHealth and ask to have her covered as my child. (I don’t qualify for MassHealth.). Another example: In January, Health Care For All told me I could apply for Julia’s coverage when I had a lease. Last week, the same helpline said, I cannot submit any application until we were in MA. I’ve stopped sputtering my buts—‘but last time I called. . . . ,’ and ‘but the website says. . . ‘ —but I was defeated. Continue reading →

Posted on 11 June 201912 June 2019 by Suzanne Buchko 1

last days at west

According to the MMSD calendar, the last day of school was June 12. However, the high school exam schedule was for June 6 and 7 (Thursday and Friday), as well as June 10 (Monday). Months ago, I had assumed that a closing date of June 12th meant that Julia would be in school until that day. As it turned out, the one exam Julia was scheduled to take on the 10th could be given to her on the 7th, and so, Julia had a rather anticlimatic last day of 10th grade/ last day of West High on Friday without many good-byes. We went back on Monday to take some pictures and say some farewells. Julia is taking good memories of her time at West High with her.