Happy Retirement Plans
I am a 74 year old who belongs to that demographic the federal government calls elder orphans, seniors aging alone with absolutely no family.
I spent five years bedridden and another in a wheelchair because of Lyme Disease and its co-infections. I belonged to several online Lyme Disease groups, one of which was Christian.
Ten years ago I was randomly matched in that group with a prayer partner who happened to live half an hour from me. She got well. I didn't.
At that point, we began to visit in person. Over the years we became close friends as we found things we had in common. I became like an older sister to her, and she began to share with me the secrets of her heart. I knew almost everything about her children and grandchildren, who did not live locally, but I did not know them personally.
Planning for retirement, she and her husband bought a country home with several acres of land for the grandchildren in a small city two hours away. Her dream was that one day they would build houses on the land She asked me to move there too so we could be neighbors. I agreed. I was very grateful that she had provided me with such a bright, fun and love filled future.
Leaving her new home to come into town, she was killed in a head on collision by a young man who veered into her lane at 60 mph. Because the family stays in touch with smart phones, her husband texted the news of her death and the information about her services. I have no need for a cell phone because I have no family to call, and I am primarily housebound.
I had sent her and her husband tickets to a concert, and when he got those, he realized I did not know she had died. He phoned me from her phone because that was where my number was stored, and, I thought it was she. Her funeral was over before I learned of her death. Her husband told me he thought I was not at her services because I was too distraught to come.
I had been emailing her at least twice a day, worrying one of the grandchildren might be sick. The country home will be sold, and her husband plans to move into an apartment near his job.
Right now I am in shock. I feel as if I am in a bad dream, and I will wake up soon.
