Well … life does go on.
Can’t help wishing I had a bit more control.
The Covina “Home”, which isn’t really a “Home”, is out of the picture. I finally realized that, having been treated as a liar and a cheat by employee(s?) of the California Lodge, I really would never fit in with an atmosphere created by those who say they care for people but actually care for money, and so am calling it a lesson and will be withdrawing as soon as I am able to sign papers on another place to settle.
Some of the responses to my situation indicate that California Masonry is in deep doodoo having lost their way supposedly based on the Masonic tenet of “Relief, Brotherly Love, and Truth” to become a social club much like the Lions and others. The Elks seem to be closer to that list of beliefs than the Masons.
If any of you have been moved to put a hex on or call for Karma on Masons as a whole, please transfer your efforts to the California Lodge specifically. My son is a Mason and a good man as are many many Masons. It would seem to be a mere few in California who are causing problems, not just for me but to who knows how many others. Maybe just skip the hex thoughts and concentrate on the rule of three … what you give out returns to you threefold.
Thank you all.
Then early last friday evening (a week after the rejection with no contact inbetween) I got a call from someone named Judy saying she had wonderful news for me. All had been forgiven, the collective mind set had changed, and they would like me to move into the “Home” asap.
I was gobsmacked!
I received an email following her phone call, and after much thought, I responded (with my responses in red italics) …
On 8/13/2021 6:03 PM, Judy Figueroa wrote:
Dear Mrs. Dibelka,
I would like to thank you and your son for taking the time to speak with me earlier today.
As we discussed, I will be happy to continue processing your application for admission. I am sorry you feel the staff did not trust you as this was not our intention. –I never indicated I felt it was staff as a whole. I felt welcomed by all those with whom I interacted. It was only the one person who chose to believe Zillow over us! One person !!!- Your application was going well, you picked your apartment and received your TB test by our nurses. Staff did not intend to give you the impression you were not eligible for admission. –I say AGAIN, no staff member with whom I interacted gave me any impression other than that they approved of me. It was the staff member who decided that on the word of Zillow, which is reliably unreliable, that I was trying to cheat and lying about my finances and therefore should be rejected. If that was one of the staff I met, they are a good actor.- There seemed to be a misunderstanding –misunderstanding is an understatement– and I apologize for the upset –mental and financial– this has caused you and your son.
Our number one priority is for your safety and well being –I wish I could believe that now. Trust can be broken soooo easily and takes time to mend.- I understand you have sold your home and will have no where to live. If you agree we can rush the process of the application and get you moved in. We would be pleased to have you move to the Masonic Homes. Please let me know your decision. As part of the financial review, there are documents required to complete the assessment process. I will be glad to send you what is needed regarding financial documents. Please feel free to call or email me should you have any questions. My phone number is (626) 251-2230
Judy Figueroa Executive Director
– I am thinking and evaluating and will let you know my decision as soon as the dust settles. Wilma J. Dibelka –
Sooooooooooooooo, stay tuned. With hope and heavenly assistance all will be well.
My next move is to find a place where I can live, comfortably caring for myself as long as possible, while being close to, but not with, Mark and his family. In the meantime I will settle somewhere while putting everything except day to day essentials in storage. At least I will now be able to keep some of the furniture (and kitchen ware) which has usefulness, meaning, and memories for me which I thought I had to get rid of because of the smaller space in a Masonic “Home”.
Oh well …
~~~
Weather had remained HOT. The entire state from the California lower central valley to southern Oregon has been under a pall of smoke due to the Dixie fire. Smoke density varies from area to area and from day to day. Ash was falling in Weed and Mt Shasta last thursday.
A RED RED sun, when seen at all, was becoming the norm.
Then yesterday, miracle of miracles, we saw the Mountain for the first time in days and blue sky with a few scattered clouds.
This morning it was almost cold (55º) and clear with light wind.
~~~
Last week, while Kamille and Paul were in Baltimore visiting her parents, Mark and I watched a movie called Greenland, an apocryphal film concentrating on people’s reactions and behavior during devastation by impacts all around the Earth, the result of the passage of Earth through fragments of a comet made of more than ice. Blame, fright, loss of belief in the Golden Rule, resignation … not much positive. Reminded me a bit of atomic scare times back in the 50s when there were predictions of behavior between those who built underground shelters in their backyards and those who didn’t but expected to share and be welcomed by those who did.
George was working in the far west of the San Fernando Valley at the time. We lived in Pomona, which is about sixty miles from Chatsworth where he was working, and our oldest son was a toddler. Our decision was that if a bomb landed on LA between us, and George couldn’t get home so we could be together, we would each go outside to watch the show, think of each other, and accept fate.
One of the top films at the time was On the Beach in which everybody, actually everyone not already dead from radiation, said their goodbyes and swallowed cyanide pills.
~~~
A necessary change, as soon as possible, is to rent a postal box so I will have an address. My email, this blog site, and my phone number will stay the same.
Am still learning how to use my cell phone, and am making slow progress. Main problem seems to be inability to “touch” lightly and having finger pads larger than the spots on the phone. Too many years of using a slight push such as on a microwave isn’t a help.
Oh for the days of dial or pushbutton phones.
~~~
Nature around here in south Siskiyou County is in flux. Fruit and vegetable crops are big but not maturing in the expected way. Evergreen trees are dying … in fires, due to drought, from pine beetles taking advantage of their weakened condition, from lack of direct sun due to smoke, and other stuff.
We will survive this. But it is becoming clear the growing zones are moving as the deserts move north.
Over 100º in Portland?
Oregon on fire all around Salem?
Another BIG California fire. This time far west southwest of us in Trinity County.
~~~
As I said before, I had been a bit ashamed of having made my farewells and now, much like the bad penny, having to say, as did the poltergeist, “I’m baaaaack.”
It’s been a bit like being an actress playing Gertrude in the final act of “Hamlet” where everyone dies. Having given the very best performance of my career, lying completely still for the remainder of the scene, hearing the final lines then a rustle which sounded like the stage curtain coming down, and the start of applause, I got to my feet while smoothing my costume getting ready for the curtain calls only to find that the curtain was still raised.
But the re-entry/curtain call has gone better than I could ever had hoped. Everyone has been so supportive and welcoming. I’ve had two welcome back meals so far this week, with one more planned. I will resume my monday Community Luncheons with friends next week. In addition, I will be able to keep my library connection with the two best librarians in the County because they are open via the drivethru window on mondays.
~~~
Tired of all the b—s—? Me too. I trust what the Universe has in store for my future, and therefore the overall tone of these blogs will improve. I believe in miracles.
We can’t always choose the music life plays for us, but we can choose how we dance.
So … ‘til next week …