Waiting for the Call

Trey Smith

We have submitted several applications for senior and disabled housing in various parts of the state and one to a coastal town in Oregon we like. We have several more in a stack and we will continue to work our way through them. Once we finish with our end of the process, all we can do is wait...for the phone to ring.

Della and I were talking about this situation the other day. We find ourselves both wanting the phone to ring and also dreading it. Of course, we want the phone to ring to hear there is an opening in one of these apartment complexes. Though we are trying to economize as much as possible, our financial resources are slowly dwindling. 

Della has applied for disability due to the ramifications from her hospitalization in late March, but until a decision is rendered, we have to get by on $756 per month. Even though we have stopped making our house payment and we receive food stamps, that isn't a lot of money. Between paying for utilities, insurance, transportation costs and Della's medical expenses, that leaves us almost nothing left over.

On the other hand, if we had our druthers, we don't really want to move. We like our house. We like South Bend. This is why we dread the phone call that may well save us from becoming homeless.

We don't like this circumstance we find ourselves in, but it is what it is. So, we wait by the phone hoping that it will ring, while dreading it will.