January 22, 2024

Winter Sabbatical 2024: Week 4

We’ve had a few windy/overcast/cool-ish/drizzly days here. The forecast called for rain this morning so I was dreading my bike ride to market. Fortunately, it held off, though the wind resistance on the return trip was brutal. I pulled out my graph paper, pencils, pens, and Post-Its last week to begin farm planning. Man oh man do I LOVE geeking out over this stuff. I’m toying with the idea of splitting this blog into two different threads: general life updates and farming updates/floral design. Of course, this means I’d have to dedicate more time to writing and actually posting said writing online for y’all to read. While running a small business. And (hopefully soon) launching a book. This seems overly ambitious but typical of my sabbaticals. I come up with tons of ideas here, throw them at the wall when I get home, and see what sticks.

Today, I’m going to give you a little Pierce update. When Pierce was hired by TJ Maxx a couple of years ago, he was put on the schedule one day a week. He eventually worked his way up to three days a week and we were happy with this arrangement. About a year ago, TJ Maxx cut Pierce’s hours back to one day a week because they couldn’t afford to keep him on more than that. We’ve been hoping things would improve and they’d be able to give him some hours back. Unfortunately, we received news a few days ago that Pierce was being laid off for a while. They hope to bring him back on in a month or two. But even when they do, it’s become clear that he likely won’t resume a 3-day work schedule. We find ourselves in familiar territory; we need help from Vocational Rehab to get more job training for Pierce with the intention of finding him a better job. It’s a frustrating situation.

But there’s another reason we’ve decided to seek other employment opportunities for Pierce. A few months ago, we contacted One Place Nashville. OPN provides housing for people with disabilities. It’s always been our dream for Pierce to gain enough independence to move out of his childhood home. Tim and I aren’t getting any younger and we’ve spent many a sleepless night worrying how Pierce will survive after we’re gone. One Place Nashville only has a couple of locations in town but they are in the process of building more facilities. One requirement for Pierce to obtain housing is that he has steady employment. After interviewing with them, Pierce became number 100 on OPN’s waiting list. They hope to have a spot available for him in 2025. This long wait time works out well for us, because even though Pierce has the opportunity to live in a more dorm-type, assisted-living setup, he will need to be WAY more independent than he is now. He will have to be able to shop for groceries and get to and from work by Uber or public transportation. He already prepares his own meals, but they usually consist of frozen meals that are reheated in the microwave or the oven. It would be great for him to become more familiar with the stovetop. It’s a skill we should’ve helped him acquire long before now.

It’s difficult to describe my emotions. I won’t lie; I have fantasized about joining our friends in the Empty Nest Club. And why not? Isn’t the parenting endgame for our adult children to achieve total independence? At the same time, I feel tremendous guilt for wanting Pierce to move out. I’m also terrified that Pierce won’t be able to handle more independence and that he might fail in a way that puts him in danger. I think I can speak for Tim and Reagan when I say that our family would appreciate your prayers.

Whew, that got heavy! Here are some happy pics.