Whitney Way

Only yesterday I was called into an office. I was a man on a mission from the land of Kansas. This is the same place where others said Dorothy came from. February was the beginning of the conception of the possibility of a world outside Kansas. I had lived there 32 years. The same voice that called me there was calling me elsewhere.

Maybe in a funky kind of way Whitney Way was calling me. It was the furthest thing from my own way of thinking. My plan was to go to Massachusetts where my journey began. It was obvious over time that my way was not the only way to take into consideration. After all I did marry someone from Erie. It was definitely not my first choice.

Time marches on. It would take one of Kansas infamous tornadoes to take me off course. Hey, I was satisfied with all that had happened in my life. My mind was gearing up for some semblance of a homecoming. After all wasn't it hard enough to leave my kids and grandkids for a new adventure. Then a tornado of sorts hit. I had my car packed. Hey all I needed was books and clothes and planted the date August 13th in my wife's head. That would be the day of my Exodus, our exodus.

My wife would have liked to have been a part of my plan. I forgot to let her in on it. A storm was in the air. I went to the leasing office and asked when would be a good time to sell our share of the house we spent several thousand dollars to occupy. They encouraged us to get moving if we hoped to get out by my target date. We added a thousand over and above what we spent. The sign was put up and our phone began ringing. Within 24 hours someone came to look at our house. It was a mess! My wife had two rooms filled up with stuff. The lady was willing to buy the holding fee for the apartment. It was time to think of moving. It was only the middle of May. They wanted to move in with kids by July. I had set the date for August 13th. The tornado hit.

It could have been easy to throw up my hands in disgust. I did not know anybody in Erie. It was a trial in the making. How could this happen? l am too old to start over again.(or so I thought). I wanted to believe I would end up in Massachusetts. I had lots of good reasons. I wanted to be there for my uncle, siblings, and work opportunity seemed more likely. The cost of living was awful. My wife reluctantly let go of treasures. I often heard it was all my fault we were leaving. The winds of change were in the air.

I held on for dear life. My wife was having memory and depression issues. Like it or not the cost of living in Erie was much less than Massachusetts. Just what I needed, I was headed to a depressed community with a depressed wife. I was glad to have a great reference from home instead. I had great references from friends and work. I did my job well! I told my kids I was not leaving, I was coming back and looked forward to seeing them again.

It was the school of hard knocks from the beginning. Home instead had nothing for me to do. Security paid no more than 8 dollars an hour for a graveyard shift. I worked jobs for a temporary agency. My back was breaking. I got a job only to lose it after two months, because I accepted an invitation to stay with a client. He hired me on with a new agency. Life seemed fine. Then along came Whitney Way. I went to a temporary agency to try and get work while I waited for my new job with Voices to open up. The temporary agency told me about a job offer from Erie homes. I was shocked. I entered with the words, Welcome to our family spoken by my new supervisor. I was her first trainee. I must have looked like a deer in the headlights. I had almost no experience with Hoyer lifts. I will be very honest. Without the help of my supervisor and a very patient staff I would not be alive to tell the tale. How can I say more? Whitney Way has been a gift, I can only hope that we will share together what makes our time worth while. Residents live here because of a staff that is willing to die for them. THANK YOU GOD for a place called Whitney Way.