In October 2020, I was preparing for my retirement. John and I had dreams of spending more time with our family, traveling the world, making the most of the time we had. So much has changed in the last year, that I thought it was best to “restart” my journey.
We made a decision last October to live the VanLife. We put an order in for our tiny house on wheels, and were told it would be worth the wait – estimated time of delivery April 2021. During that time, life continued to happen, and COVID continued to be unpredictable. We did our best to stay optimistic and keep planning for our great adventure. April turned into May, May turned into June, and June turned into July.
On July 19, 2021 at 11:00 pm, while we were watching television, Johns heart stopped. Literally stopped. He endured over 1.5 hours of CPR – first by me, then by the paramedics, then by the hospital ER. He was eventually brought back to life by 12:30 am on July 20th. This event was followed by 30 days in two hospitals where he recovered from the cardiac incident, fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, and a stroke just to name a few. I contemplated many times during that month what our future would be like. What type of recovery he would make. And was I being unrealistic by holding on to our retirement dreams.
John came home from the hospital late August, and ironically we got the call the van was finally ready for us to pick up THE DAY he was discharged.
There were months of recovery, hospital follow ups, and doctor appointments. Heck, there continue to be many doctor appointments. The root cause was never conclusively identified, but we have insurance policies in the form of heart medications and a defibrillator. And, we continue to investigate what caused the sudden cardiac arrest. He has most of his strength back, most of his energy back, and his vitals are strong.
We made the decision to follow through on our dream and picked up our RV in late September. We have taken a few small trips to go leaf peeping in Michigan, and then also in The Great Smokey Mountains, to get us ready for the big voyage.
Our plan is to visit all the US National Parks. We have it mapped out, and we are almost ready to embark on our journey. Given the fact we live in Ohio, we will start our journey in the Southwest and follow the weather. Now, when I plan a leg of our trip, we take into consideration where the closet and best hospital is. And with hiking, we take into consideration elevation change. We are up to a 1,200 ft elevation gain and a record of 37,000 steps in one day.
Life is too too short. And we can’t take a single day for granted. The last year has taught me that. It has also taught me to let go, take one day at a time, and be grateful each day for what I have.
So, if you are interest in following our journey, this is where it will be documented.
And, if you are interested in learning more about John’s health journey, here is a link to his CaringBridge.
Will read every word ! Safe journey and God speed – the southwest awaits
Will be there as soon as we can! 🙂