Chapter 3

Naturally, my first choice of a caregiver/driver would be Steve. However, his job is so unreal- and he had just missed 2 days. When he is out, very little of his work gets done in his absence. We came home last Friday after spending 2 days in Dallas, and he had to go to his office on Saturday to start catching up before Monday. There are some pretty experienced PVF salesman out there, unemployed- I personally don't think MRC can do without Steve, since he is the most experienced salesman they have. But one doesn't take chances, nor is Steve the kind of person to push the goodwill of his employer to its limit. Bottom line- he had to be here last week. So, at 3:45 on Friday afternoon, I took my phone back to Trilby's bedroom for some privacy and called my dear friend Bettie Nixon. She was teaching VBS (they have it in the evening), and had many other things on her mind- but when I asked her to drive me to Dallas and stay there for a week, she never hesitated- she said "Sure I'll do it". I cannot explain what this meant to me. I have always known what a special person she is- she is one of those people about whom one says "No one doesn't like Bettie." My running joke with Robert Besser, our pastor, is that Bettie is the nicest Baptist in Beaumont- that came up on the evening of the surprise 60th birthday party I put together with much help from Susan Ramsey, my cousin, as we had just moved here to Devon St. that week. We had known for a long time that our house on Rosine was not conducive to our advancing age. All we had upstairs was a 30' by 15' Master Suite, and we loved it- but we couldn't figure out a way to put it on the ground floor. In October 2008, Beatrice Buller, my surrogate mother for 43 years, passed away- ironically when we were in Dallas as refugees from Ike- and because of the chemotherapy that she should never have been given, she became ill & passed away in one of the Baylor hospitals there. I was her executrix & sole trustee. Therefore, instead of liquidating this house as an asset and paying a realtor & getting less than it was worth, we sold our house and bought this house from the estate, and since I am the executor, I had to pay the appraised price- all of which was better for the beneficiaries of Bea's will, as they are all institutions. The sale on our house took over 6 months to close, because the buyers were going FHA, but we got our price. It just meant that we didn't move in until January 2010. The party for Steve was mostly members of the chancel choir at Wesley, of which Steve has been a faithful member, plus Bettie. Anyway, I digress, which I do often. So Bettie packed her car & picked me up early Sunday afternoon, and we set off for Dallas. Once again it has gotten past my bedtime, so I will append to this chapter tomorrow.