Thanks, everyone. It's nice to know that I was missed!
Susan and I left home just after noon on 20 April and spent the night in Amarillo TX. The next day, we visited the bank in Louisiana where we have an account related to my dad's estate. I asked for cashier's checks so I could split the remaining funds among the beneficiaries. I left part of my share in the account to keep it open in case we receive any additional estate funds. We aren't expecting anything, but I would rather play it safe. I'll probably close the account at the end of the year.
We invited my dad's old neighbor out for dinner at Outback Steakhouse, and we caught up on the events in our lives. After dinner, we went to my dad's old house to pick up some papers the new owner had found. Most of the papers were just old vehicle registrations, but one envelope contained my parent's wedding license.
Wednesday morning (22 April), we drove up to Benton AR. The final meeting of the trans language therapy class at UAMS was scheduled for that night, and I wanted to be there. The last meeting usually includes a 'pot luck', so I ordered a large plate of sandwiches from a local restaurant. Only the SLP (speech language pathologist) running the class knew I was coming. All of the students and clients were very surprised and happy to see me! We did learn some sad news, as we discovered it really was the last meeting. The class was being shut down. Part of it was because the SLP was moving to another state, and another part was because the University was shutting down any classes which were trans-related.
The next day, Susan and I drove to near Atlanta GA to visit a nephew. His father, my brother, passed away about seven years ago. I had a few things his father had given me, and I wanted our nephew to have them. We stayed at his house that evening, and we had some good conversation.
Friday morning (24 April), we began our drive to Madison WI to visit our daughter and her husband. We spent the night in Bloomington IL, where the hotel desk clerk seemed overly concerned that our hotel room only had one bed. He appeared to be from the middle east, so it may have just been a cultural issue.
We arrived at our daughter's house around noon on Saturday. Since it was a beautiful day, we all went to the Olbrich Botanical Gardens. It was still a little early in the season for many of the flowers, but the tulips were in full bloom. Susan loves tulips, so she was happy! After spending some time in the gift shop, we went back to our daughter's house. They (our daughter and her husband) made a nice shepherd's pie for dinner, then Susan and I went back to our hotel. On Sunday, our daughter and her husband took us to the 'Cave of the Mounds'. Although it was a small cave system, it had quite a few impressive rock formations. After lunch, we went to the State Capitol building in Madison. The building is open to the public, and we were able to join a guided tour. The Capitol building is quite beautiful. It is built of stone, and there are even a few fossils embedded in the floors and walls. After the tour, we all had dinner at the Vintage Brewing Company before Susan and I went back to our hotel to pack up for another day on the road.
Monday morning (27 April), we left Madison to head back to Benton AR. Since all of my medical support folks are still there, I had made an appointment to see my dermatologist, an appointment for a mammogram, and an appointment with my primary care physician. We left Madison at 5:00am in an attempt to get ahead of some strong storms which were in Missouri. While we did drive through some heavy storms near Springfield IL, we managed to avoid the worst of it. We had planned to spend the night in Poplar Bluff MO, but since we left so early we were way ahead of schedule. We canceled our reservations in Poplar Bluff and drove all the way back to Benton AR. Since we were staying with friends in Benton, those reservations were easy to update! After 12 hours on the road, we were both really tired.
My first appointment Tuesday was with my dermatologist. She only found two spots to freeze, which was good news. While talking, I told her that I had moved out of state due to politics. Eventually, she mentioned that her sister had married a woman, and that she (my dermatologist) had performed the ceremony! I decided to tell her my 'secret', and she was very supportive. She said she would be glad to continue treating me whenever I come back to visit.
The next appointment was a mammogram. The screening questions were going well, until she asked if I still had my uterus and ovaries... and when my first period was. I told her I was trans, and she said 'Oh, OK'. The technician who performed the mammogram was also very nice. I received an email the next day stating that everything was normal.
On Wednesday (29 April), I had an appointment with my primary care physician. She was really happy to see me! She ordered a bunch of blood tests, and she asked me how I liked being back in Colorado. I also gave her a few vials of estradiol, which she provides as 'free samples' to clients who have a hard time affording it. I get a new vial every month, and I had way more stockpiled than I really needed. Once the appointment was over, Susan and I were on the road home. We spent the night in Amarillo again, and we arrived home around 11:00am Thursday morning.
We didn't have much time to relax or do a lot of sightseeing, but that wasn't the goal of this trip. We were successful in delivering several 'heirlooms' to our nephew and our daughter, we were able to distribute more of the estate funds, and I got all of my medical appointments taken care of. Hopefully, our next long trip will be for fun.
Love always -- Jessica Rose
