The Cat is Out of the Bag

The cat is out of the bag--Yes, it is true-we are leaving Vancouver and moving to Kamloops. It is with a great deal of mixed emotion that I say that. Everything that I detailed in yesterday's story or some version of it has really happened. The only thing that has not taken place yet is the my father-in-law's brain scan and the resulting Doctor's letter. That will not arrive until next week and is a formality but a necessity as far as my husbands company & union are concerned.

My husband's transfer has been approved and he will be given a position in Kamloops. We asked the company to provide something by early September so that our daughter can be enrolled in school and will make the transition easier for her. The only issue is that it does not leave us with a great deal of time; they chose to leave the approval until the eleventh hour.

This is not a decision that we have made lightly; some of you know that it has been brewing for over a year. Dear hubby grew up in Kamloops and we started our married life in Cache Creek. In the mid-1980's he was forcibly transferred to Vancouver; it was a case of move or don't work for the company any more. Being a young and "married without children" couple we enjoyed living in New Westminster, Burnaby and Kitsilano. After both our children were born and our oldest daughter was diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease we moved closer to BC Children's Hospital. Kamloops became our refuge and during those difficult years all we could think about was returning to live closer to family. A move never seemed to work out though and we resigned ourselves to living in the Lower Mainland.

Eventually, when we moved back to New Westminster and purchased our 1910 Arts & Crafts bungalow we felt as though we had come almost full circle. After becoming very involved with the local deaf community and finding friends we chose as family we were content with our life and circumstances. Three years ago my father, who lived in Kelowna at the time, started to have memory lapses and could no longer care well for himself; it meant that we looked after him long distance for a time but he eventually moved into a suite in our basement and we adjusted from being a family of three to four.

Then last year my husbands 91 year old grandmother had to be put into a care facility due to Alzheimer's and at the same time we became aware of the fact that my father-in-law was also starting to have memory issues. Within weeks my mother-in-law was diagnosed with a heart condition.

The writing was on the wall. My husband's brother has never been in a position to assist his parents and we knew that the responsibility for care would fall on us. Having gone through looking after my father long distance we remember all too well the physical and emotional toll it took on our family. We started to consider moving back to Kamloops as an option last year and made inquiries. Things did not work out at that time but after receiving a panicked call from my mother-in-law in March about my father-in-laws memory we decided it was time to gird up and try again. This time our request has been successful.

I will be leaving my position at the hospital, some really great co-workers and my writing buddies which does make me sad. Thank goodness for email and blogs--even if I cannot be present in person we can still communicate! We will also be leaving our very, very, dear chosen family although those relationships are cemented and they will continue no matter where we live. We also have dear friends in Kamloops too, we'll be closer to our family and able to help them out plus this moves means we are starting an exciting new chapter in our life.

In one of my previous blogs I talked about how my writing often parallels what is happening in my sphere of influence and how recent stories have included people who are symbolically going through doors to a new life. My characters went through their doors, now its my turn.

Salynne ©2009