That night was difficult. We were, of course, more than a little freaked out. The questions and worst case scenarios swirled in our heads.
Were we being affected physically?
Just how toxic are the gases?
How does it affect dogs?
Does it have long term effects?
Should we even sleep here tonight?
What do we do now?
There was a little bit of crying, a bit of rage, and more than a little panic that night. But after a couple of hours of this we decided, as crazy as this might sound, that the best thing for us would be to just sleep on it. We needed to be clear headed and not panic stricken before making any decisions. So we did our best to unwind and fall asleep.
By Saturday we had made two major decisions. The first was that the move was definitely gonna be sooner than October. We did enough research to know the general symptoms and what to watch out for but also that the sooner we got out the better. (tomorrow’s blog post will contain some of the info that I have gathered about all of that)
The second was that it would be best for Gabe (our dog) if we sent him somewhere we knew he would be safe. So we talked to Clint’s parent’s who agreed to take care of him until we got everything sorted out. Which we discovered the following week was for the best because the gases had been affecting him. He had been lacking energy, had a rash, some tummy issues, and issues with fluids draining from his ears and nose. They were all little symptoms that had built up over time that we had attributed to other things. The mucus/ fluid build up we attributed to allergies, the rash from some funny weeds in the backyard, tummy issues from just the fact that he gets into everything. After he was out of the environment for even just a week he was doing drastically better.
After a few more days and many long discussions we decided we needed to be out of that apartment as soon as possible. So I made some calls and we made plans to move out on July 31st. We made a not so easy decision to go 2 seperate ways for a few weeks. We put our stuff in storage in Fort Wayne. Clint is staying Upland to work an extra week at Ivanhoes after which he will head up to Fort Wayne to find and start a new job. I made the drive up to Clint’s parents house where I will do some job hunting and get started back at school. If everything goes according to plan we will be in the new apartment sometime by the end of the month.
The next 3 weeks or so will not be easy especially for Clint so prayers are appreciated.
The whole situation has made us examine ourselves, our life, our priorities. The past 2 years in Upland we knew there was just one reason we were there - so Clint could get his degree. We didn't really focus on anything else. For me it was just a matter of dealing with it - grinning and bearing it. I did not enjoy living in Upland at all. I know it was something we had to do, but it just was not my kind of town. That’s not to say that it was all bad. I did have some great experiences and met some awesome people down there. But I also had some horrible ones and met some not so great people.
So to the people who made the bright moments in a town I hated shine as so very brightly they did - thank you! Despite all of that bad memories I wouldnt trade my time because than I would miss out on the good memories.
Kate, Pete, Victoria, Nathan, - You guys are awesome and have been such awesome friends. To my fellow co-workers at the 3 places of employment in that 2 years- I wish you the best in your lives.
To those of you who I dont have such fond memories of, those I need to forgive, that full forgiveness will come with time. The hurt you caused has helped shape me to be a stronger person, there are just a few of you that I am still working on the forgiveness part.
The more I look back on my time in Upland the more I know I will see the ways I have learned and grew (and I will have plenty of time for that over the next few weeks). At the moment though, I am just happy in the thought that it is behind me, that I will never live in that town again.
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