Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2009. By that point, we knew that Mattie's situation was grave. Mattie was in the child life playroom that day and he was surrounded by child life volunteers, many hospital friends, and pictured here with Mattie was Liz. Liz was one of the guest artists who volunteered at the hospital. We got to work with her several times over the course of Mattie's treatment. She loved working with Mattie, as she felt he was very creative. Liz created poetry with the children and their families. Case in point, an example of what she and I created together is below. It is entitled, Intensive Care.
Intensive Care
Storage, or an assigned room, would be nice:
Room at an inn,
For the times we know we’ll be back
For our child’s treatment.
Always moving in, or moving out:
Sharing the same bathroom,
Showers away from home,
The difficult parking…
All I want is a room with a view;
Anything to look at but these blank walls,
The monitor; the steady drip of medicine,
Marching into battle.
Buzzers, bells, and footsteps.
Marking hours that mock time:
Sounds that my noise-maker drowns out
In a waterfall of rain, to wash away pain:
A blessing on my sleeping boy.
And I sit here, amazed at the maze of the hospital:
The noise…. Stuck here for months on end,
Wanting movement of any kind,
To multiply “Child Life” by ten,
Support groups: a place to meet other parents
That is not too small or cold….
Maybe, in my dreams, a terrace:
A garden for children to play in, to be with our son,
And breathe in open air.
For M’s parents, and for all…..
By Liz Pester, Studio G artist
Quote of the day: At any given moment you have the power to say: This is not how the story is going to end. ~ Christine Mason Miller
I love this quote because it most definitely applies to me! When my divorce settlement agreement was created, it gave me two years to assume my house's mortgage. I seriously put that whole notion on a shelf somewhere, and it was the furthest from my mind. Well until I was confronted about it this spring. Since my separation, my learning curve has been enormous and I have endured many, many more things that I have not reported on this blog. I'm quite sure if you knew the whole story, you would say.... really? This can't be real!
So on May 1, I put my brave and courageous hat on, and called my mortgage company to start the assumption process. Thankfully my house had an assumable mortgage, because if it didn't I most likely would have had to move. I can't tell you the terror and fear I have been living with since May! For four months, I have been anxious, because I did not know where I would be able to live and being responsible for my parents, it was a downright nightmare. Each day, I have been carrying this stress...... Will I get the assumption? Will I be able to afford the assumption process? and of course.... Will I have to move? Moving with my parents would truly be hell on earth, as they both have significant issues, making it close to impossible to show a house, pack up a house, and try to find a new place to live. Remember, I am the one who fell in love with this house and I should not have to be forced out of it.
When my first assumption application was denied, I seriously thought I was going to lose it. But like tonight's quote points out..... THIS IS NOT HOW THE STORY IS GOING TO END! With every turn in my separation and divorce, when I hit a roadblock, I got creative about how to solve it. There are not too many people who would agree to sign onto a mortgage with me. Thankfully I have wonderful parents and former in-laws, all of whom stood behind me and were willing to help me secure my mortgage.
Today, I learned officially that I will be closing on this nightmare next week and the original astronomic closing fee I was first quoted in June, is SIGNIFICANTLY less. Seriously today I felt like I won the lottery, because the initial closing cost would be dire for me. Dire because the financial hit I took during the separation and divorce process has been catastrophic.
Just so you get a feeling for the timeline:
May 1: Applied for assumption
May 29: Denied
June 1: Applied a second time
July 15: I learned that the assumption was approved
July 25: Introduced to my closing agent
August 14: Final closing documents underway
August 20: Signing closing documents
What you can't tell from this timeline is the daily emails, requests, interviews, documents and other hoops I had to jump over since May! I will be grateful to have this monumental hurdle behind me, because juggling it on top of everything else I do, has been excruciating.
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