September 1st through the 15th
I visited two more memory care centers in Sun City Center on Thursday, 9/1, one of them, Freedom Plaza Memory Care was the facility I felt would best fit Dad’s needs. I volunteered at the church’s food bank on Friday afternoon and then, Emma had her “tropical” birthday party on Saturday, 9/3.
When the guests came in, they got some tropical favors as a gift.
After sliding and swimming for a while,
everyone ate pizza followed by birthday cake.
Everyone had a good time and the rain held off until most were gone.
Dad, Emma and I attended Sunday school and church on Sunday, 9/4; and while Kellie went to work on Labor Day Monday, 9/5, the rest of us took it easy. On Tuesday, 9/6, I joined Kellie and her parents, Judy and Roy Clark at Judy’s brother’s funeral at the Sarasota National Cemetery. While it was a sad occasion (Jack died suddenly), it was held in a beautiful setting, and he was given military honor for his service to our country.
On Wednesday, 9/7, Dad and I rode up to Freedom Plaza in Sun City Center,
for him to get a tour and meet some of the people with which he will be interacting. On Thursday, 9/8, Dad returned to his dentist for a “wax” impression to be sent to make his permanent dentures.
Sunday was the 21st anniversary of the terrorists’ attacks on 9/11. Dad, Emma and I attended church and Sunday school and remembered those who were lost.
Tuesday, 9/13, while I was volunteering at church, I received call from Freedom Plaza letting me know that Dad’s move coordinator has Covid so his move-in date will hopefully be next week.
On Thursday, 9/15, Dad and I attended Palm View First Baptist Church’s Senior Saints monthly dinner meeting where we watched a short movie. Dad is wearing his blue Daytona Dirt Riders jacket in the picture below.
Dad saw his primary care doctor on Friday, 9/16 where we were pleased to learn that his weight has gone up one pound to 126. While there, the doctor completed a form necessary for Dad to move into the memory care facility. Then, in a rare Friday night college football game, FSU beat Louisville.
On Monday afternoon, 9/19, I received word that Dad could move into the Freedom Plaza Memory Care Center on Wednesday morning.
Tuesday morning, I spent a couple of hours at the pregnancy center helping to put together goody bags for the upcoming golf tournament fund raiser event.
On Tuesday afternoon, 9/20, JP picked up a U-Haul truck and we loaded some of Dad’s furniture in the evening.
Dad and I awoke at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, 9/21, to get dressed and get the rest of his bedroom furniture loaded into the truck.
JP’s friend, Roman, came over to help load and then went to Sun City Center with us to unload the furniture.
I returned to Freedom Plaza on Thursday, 9/22, and completed all of the paperwork necessary before taking him to the dentist – but just as we were leaving, the dentist office called and said that his appointment would need to be rescheduled because his new dentures did not arrive this morning as expected.
I spent most of the day on Saturday, September 24, at the North River Care Pregnancy Center’s Fundraiser Golf Tournament at Tara. It appeared to be a great success. We, the board members, are very grateful to the many sponsors, and players.
On Sunday, September 25, Emma and I went to visit Dad/PaPa. She was very excited to get to see him and his new home; and he was equally excited to see her. We went home and started preparing the house for an expected hurricane Ian. On Tuesday, September 26, I visited Jackie Sosville who is staying with her sister and brother-in-law, Ann and Curt Mahoney, in Palmetto Point just a few doors down from where we used to live. We spent a couple of hours planning our upcoming travel in October before I returned home to finish preparing for Ian. Wednesday and Thursday were spent in doors mostly waiting for Ian to move out of our area. We were very fortunate that we did not have a direct hit (it came in further south and caused untold damage.) I spent Friday, September 30 getting ready for my trip.
Our journey has been inspired by Joy and Steve Fredrick. You can see more of their story at