When I signed up to do this diary I was planning on an update, having spent the weeks after NN12 getting various tests and check-ups done. October will be five years cancer-free. I also saw my gynecologist about some occasional spotting. He was going to do a colposcopy, but decided on the second exam not to - my irritation had cleared up, he said, and my vagina was "pristine." I wonder if it's okay to mention pristine vaginas in the Minnesota legislature.
But this week I had breakfast with a friend and she gave me permission to write about her instead.
KosAbility is a community diary series posted at 5 PM ET every Sunday and Wednesday by volunteer diarists. This is a gathering place for people who are living with disabilities, who love someone with a disability, or who want to know more about the issues surrounding this topic. There are two parts to each diary. First, a volunteer diarist will offer their specific knowledge and insight about a topic they know intimately. Then, readers are invited to comment on what they've read and or ask general questions about disabilities, share something they've learned, tell bad jokes, post photos, or rage about the unfairness of their situation. Our only rule is to be kind; trolls will be spayed or neutered.
My friend is a woman in her 50s who lives in a 55+ condominium community, where she moved four or five years ago to care for her elderly mother, whose dementia made her unable to live alone. She had expected to stay there, and put some money into energy-efficient windows and a new kitchen.
Her mother died this past spring, having remained at home receiving hospice care. Meanwhile, about 18 months ago the state took two of her grandchildren away from their mother, and they came to live with my friend. This was clearly the best arrangement for them, with their emotional and cognitive needs, and she takes care to see that they get all the help they need. For a while it looked as if she would adopt them, and she began looking for another place to live. She has land in Colorado which she put on the market. Since her mother's death, she has been looking into selling the condo, but her mortgage is underwater at this point, and when such units sell, they sell considerably cheaper than she needs.
She has Charcot's, a form of muscular dystrophy, but worked until just a few years ago, and continues to walk without a cane, and to be quite energetic. But we all know what the economy in general, and the real estate market in particular, has been like. The complex where she lives is 25% empty, and has several other units in foreclosure. She had found a house some time ago, but the sale fell through because the land did not sell. They have, however, told her she either has to be out, or have the children out of the unit by the end of the year.
So there she is, my friend who W changed from a registered Republican to an Independent. She wants to lobby for something to be added to the Fair Housing Act, which stipulates that no more than 20% of such housing can go to people under 55, so that residents can deal with family emergencies such as hers. I also suggested putting a petition online at care2 or change.org about her specific situation, which may earn her some extra time.
She is dealing now with depression as well as everything else. If you have any other ideas that might help her, please use the comments to suggest them.