Plan A was the first plan we came up with. It was for my boyfriend to keep working at Tuesday Morning while I quit my job at Dollar Tree, finished school and found part-time employment. That lasted until higher-ups made the decision to close his store, or about a month and a half.
Our Plan B was a great local opportunity working with art. The company decided "amid stiff competition" to go another direction.
The Plan C we came up with was living together for a year while my uncle served his jail term, with the ultimate goal of my boyfriend finding work over that year and then both of us moving into an apartment together for the remaining three months of the school year. That didn't happen.
We are currently in the middle of Plan D. He is in Denver, looking for work. He's been there for two months and has not found employment yet. I am two weeks away from graduation. The plan was for me to join him in Denver once he was able to afford an apartment there. Probably goes without saying that we are forming Plan E, since there is only a month left before Plan D expires.
Except, at this point, Plan E can go one of two ways.
The way that I would like to see it go is for me to seek work here after graduation.
I would love to go to Denver and join my boyfriend in looking for work in the city we want to live in, but (a) I have no car to drive, so a lot of good that would do, and (b) most importantly, I have nowhere to stay. I refuse to move into his aunt's house with him because she's already taken him on; her resources do not need to be more tapped than they are. (Her husband's daughter is also living with them, but she is working and therefore contributing.)
So, I would stay here and look for work. I could use my parents' car for job seeking and, ultimately, job attendance. I could live with them until I have enough for an apartment / house. And then, when he has work there, we could be together again. Or he could come back here once or twice a month and look for work.
Why wouldn't I be willing to just support him? Well, funny you should ask. It has ties to my immediate family and it has been an area of constant contention throughout my life. My boyfriend and I have talked about it numerous times. I do not mind working, but I do not want to be the one to be the main support for the family. If he's working and gets laid off for a few months, I don't mind bearing the temporary weight, but I will not be my familial Atlas for the long-term. He understands this. Therefore, it should not be any further concern to anyone.
Back to Plan E.
The other way it can go is I forego my own future and move in with my grandmother. She is 80 years old with macular degeneration, and well on her way to not being able to see. My aunt died last year. That's important because she was living with my grandma. My boyfriend and I were a few months into Plan C, and there was, literally, only about two hundred feet between our front door and her side porch door. Because my mom was working, and no other family members were close or willing to uproot their already-established life, I took on the task of caring for my grandmother all summer long. I stepped back from doing so when my uncle was out on work release starting in October because grandma "hired" him to do work around the place, and that meant he could also take care of her whilst he was there.
...anyway, here I am, two weeks away from graduation. No real plan in place. (And that's driving me crazy.) Nothing really going on in my life. And no real reason not to move in with her.
I do see a few downfalls with this. Am I moving in with her until my boyfriend and I are able to get on with our lives, or until the end of grandma's life? I won't be able to look for work while living with her; it will be a full-time job. I don't want to move in with her and then find myself stuck. I mean, I am soon to be 27: my life has been delayed enough! I need to get out and find my own way; make some (more) stupid mistakes. Learn things the hard way.
...but if I don't move in with my grandma, I don't know what would happen.
My mom could take care of her for the summer, assuming mom doesn't get a job for the interim months that the school is out.
My uncle should step up and take care of her: he's not working, he's not looking for work, he has no driver's license, he's her favorite, and he is a bachelor. He takes her newspaper to her every morning, and they talk for maybe 15 minutes, but that's as far as his personal interaction with her goes.
See now, that's where the situation currently stands. Both of those options are open and grandma still sits, alone, in her house, all day. She makes too much money to qualify for medicaid, so no social services will touch her situation without my family (read: my mom) paying for them.
I just hate that I keep finding myself at these crossroads.
I understand that making decisions is a part of life, but they should not be this complicated.
It feels like I'm choosing between myself (starting my own life) and my family (moving in with gran.)
So do I be selfish or do I be righteous?
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