THE BIG MOVE

The Newest Addition to Quincy, Florida Living! 

Well folks, I have held this in for as long as I could possibly could. At times, I have felt like I was underwater and someone was smashing my head down with their heavy hand - just trying to see how long I could stand it.

It's been a long time coming, for me at least. I have wanted it, prayed for it, and finally - it's here. I know there are mixed feelings for some people wrapped up in this deal and I fully understand that. Once you have found it, settled into and love it, you don't want to leave it. It's yours, you looked for it forever, finally found it and you never wanted to leave.

But life and circumstance have stepped in and said Whoa Nelly! We're going to have to go in this direction now. My heart hurts for you and feels for you - but it also sings. It sings loud and it sings excitedly and proudly. Admittedly, many of those feelings are selfishly for myself and mine - because again - I have prayed for this more times than I could tell you.

I know what a monstrous event this feels like for them - moving themselves and their entire lives in a truck, two hours up the road. I also know, to most, that doesn't seem like much of a big deal - but I'm only 55 years old and I have accumulated a lot of life in my home too - believe me, it's a big deal.

But once it's all said and done - my folks, the people who created me, will be no more than ten minutes away from me whether I am at home or at work. I cannot tell all folks what relief and joy that brings to me and mine. I will be able to see them most anytime I want to - after work, on weekends, Sunday and Saturday lunches - just the thought of all that instant access make me plum giddy.

I don't know what the future holds for any of us, but my thought is this: whatever comes our way in sickness and in health, for better or worse - we will all be right here together to help one another get through it. I hope in time the love for where they were and their life before, shifts to where they will be now and all the hopes for the better lives for us all it will bring.

Needless to say - this will absolutely be the best Mother's Day present this daughter could have ever wanted to receive. To have her mama, her best friend, so close that she can almost reach out and touch her. To know that the woman she called and talked to on the phone, everyday without fail, sometimes wondering if she was reading words and moods differently than they seem to be conveyed, and worrying about that same difference, causing her nights to be restless - was about to be over. If I need to know - I can just go see for myself!

Happy Mother's Day to THE best Mama any girl could ever ask for - our days are about to be better than we could have ever imagined and you will never know how much I'll treasure this time in our lives as adults and friends, not just mother and daughter.

So without further ado, Ladies and Gentlemen of Gadsden County - on Monday, May 13th - my parents, Jean and David Mount - will officially be homeowners here in Quincy, Florida! If you see them (or my sister Ashley) out and about, and you will before long, please welcome them with all the open arms and kindness that you welcomed me and mine almost 21 years ago now. I know they will come to love this place and all of you - just as I have over the years. Quincy is a magical little town - and I pray they can feel that and come to appreciate it just as I have.

Being Financially Aware Is Important

My sister’s husband passed away, this past February 22^nd. He was only 56 years old; he hadn’t been sick or ill, it wasn’t expected. He did have a few health problems like many of us at that age, but he was treating them with daily medications, so again, it wasn’t expected.

Now pay attention because this is important: my sister is 50 years old, and has been qualified for disability for about 10 years or so now, and not able to work. Notice that I said qualified, but I did not say, she has been receiving disability. She spent several years in court as many people do, with doctor reports and such, trying to make a judge understand her limitations – to no avail. Finally, someone saw the light, granted the motion for benefits and she received them for about a year or so.

Her husband then changed jobs, and with that new job came a pay increase, and with that new pay increase, the disability benefits all but disappeared, because now the over-all income in their home was above the rate for her to continue to receive those benefits previously awarded.

Fast forward to February when her husband passed. They had moved many times over the years, and somehow all of my sister’s personal legal documents were nowhere to be found. And I mean all of them: birth certificate, marriage license, last known picture ID as she is no longer licensed to drive – nothing. In our hands, all we were left holding proving her to be the wife of her deceased husband was a death certificate – but nothing else even to prove that was really her.

When I tell you what a vicious cycle it is trying to get proof of all those documents without a picture ID – well we’ll just say it was starting to feel dang near impossible. Plus, none of his accounts, for instance, his checking account, had her name on it, so we had to have major proofs of identification/affidavits for her to be able to draw those funds out of his account.

For weeks she felt betrayed and abandoned because she was not aware accounts had been changed or that she was no longer a signer. But we are family, and little by little we have put all the pieces together to make her a whole person again, in name and in spirit.  The next battle is to get her SSI benefits reinstated – which should go fairly smooth.

My point to you ladies today is this: never, ever lose who you are – as a person, or as a human being. Know your finances, don’t let yourselves be shut-out from banking accounts, and make a Will. I don’t care if you’re 35 years old – make a Will. If you have anything of value, monetarily or otherwise, that you want to go to someone specific – make a Will. Make sure you can access/be a co-signer, on all accounts so there are no radical surprises on top of the grief you are experiencing. Have a credit card that’s in YOUR name, whether you use it or not.

In what is already the darkest time of your life; don’t be left alone, dependent, lost and scared.