One week out of Sundance....

Tonight makes one week out of Sundance for me. It's been a busy week for sure! I left Sundance basicly homeless, unemployed and all my stuff in a storage unit in Fountain Hills with no clue what the future held for me. My PO told me I had to continue to live in Surprise or else transfer to a different probation office and with only one month left prior to being able to submit for early release I chose to stay way out here almost one hour away from Sundance.I spent the first night at my friend Judy's house in Desert Ridge and found a furnished studio just inside the the eastern border of Surprise along the western bank of the Agua Fria river on Bell Road. It's totally furnished down to towels, dishes and silverwear and has a murphy bed in the wall. I settled in over the weekend and it's now home until I can get released from probation.

I've lived in worse places!

I attended four twelve step meetings (two AA & two NA), Sundance alumni meeting as well as the Art of Recovery Expo at the Phoenix Convention Center on Saturday and been calling into probation every night and went in last week once for UA testing at TASC (clean of course). I also went to Sundance on Monday morning for my first day as art mentor for Dr. Paula's expressive art therapy group and will continue to do so weekly.

I've also been going over to my parent's home in Sun City West daily to assist my sister pack & clean the house in preparation of them moving back to New York with my sister this Thursday which most likely be the last time I will see my folks. Pop is nearly 87 now, in very poor physical health from a series of strokes over the past six years and rapidly declining mental health due to a recent diagnosis of dementia. Mom is 82 and also in very poor health, had spinal fusion surgery in March and knee replacement surgery one month ago as well as several other progressive health conditions.

I have very mixed emotions about my sister taking them back to NY after having been their sole live-in caregiver for the past 6 years. On one hand I am vey relieved to be free to get my own life back (such as it is) yet I will miss them very much and probably won't see them again before they pass. At this stage I'm not allowed to leave the state to be able to visit them and their health conditions and advanced ages don't make the odds of them living much longer very good, especially Pop. The moving van arrives in the morning as well as my nephew and he and my sister will drive them back to NY on Thursday morning.

Then end of an era, The beginning of another.