Time has just flown by. A lot has changed! Amazing changes.

So, we moved. We never ever planned on leaving our home as we had taken 10 years to prepare our home for Trina’s condition and needs. We had help from the Community to make it work for her and we were happy and content. But because we are aging and her care is quite intense and round the clock – what we hadn’t planned on was what if one of us gets sick? SO, when some health challenges for her “Staddio” (as we call him) came into play, we decided to add a 1 Bdr., 1 Ba. unit so that we could have full-time help live on site when needed. With the interest rates low we were taking action now even though we hoped not to have that need for another decade or more as want to do her care ourselves for as long as is humanly possible.

However, the City of Redding caused our plan to be financially impossible due to last minute Engineering requirements. We’d had approval for 7 months and Covid caused a lot of delays, so for it to fail was devastating. We cried! And we felt we needed a forever place that accommodated the future so we started looking. The time seemed right to find a right forever place. We had hoped to stay in Shasta County too, but an amazing opportunity presented itself in Tehama County in the little town of Tehama, CA – a perfect home for our situation. A 2-story that was set up for caregivers to live upstairs (in the future), with us downstairs and Trina’s room and bathroom were just right for her. Added bonus – the place just happens to be on the River with such a peaceful setting and with all flat roads that enable me to pull her daily behind me on my bike and take her on walks, etc. Then a nurse mad a golf cart affordable and I take her around in that every day. We added a 5 point harness and it’s a super safe ride and it makes her laugh. SO, YES WE DID IT and shocked ourselves and everyone else by moving. If anyone wants to write to say hello, we are at PO Box 223, Tehama, CA 96090 🙂

Of course, we kept all of Trina’s doctors the same (in Redding), and we set this home up just like the last for her room to be familiar. Change is difficult for those with brain damage. However, this home is larger with all of the space better for having a wheelchair. We can now get her in every room easily, unlike the old home. God truly worked miracles for us to have this because the new place is so special and so much better for her care and our future with her and is affordable. What seemed so scary is now such a amazing blessing to us. Thank you God.

Trina seems to love it here. We try to make every day special. Her care has become a little more difficult just due to the longevity with her brain injury and her extremities get stiffer, etc. She still doesn’t sleep well consistently and her bowels do not ever work on their own. She’s still on a feeding tube, etc but in spite of all of it, we feel blessed and honored for God to trust us with her care. We want her to have dignity each day and we pray for healing but embrace what each day brings…the ups and the downs – and make the choice to smile!

Thanks for checking in…. Until next time!

TRINA’S mom, Sandy