Those of some natural hearts that turned up in my life. Spud Heart, from a bag of potatoes, Strawberry heart, from a box of strawberries, and Stone Heart, in the desert in southern California.
I have other hearts, earrings, a necklace, more heart shaped rocks, and my best heart, the one beating inside my hubby's chest.
Today my hubby and I drove to Brookfield to do some shopping for winter clothes. Hubby bought a thick, warm jacket for $15, perfect for work, warm and not expensive. He also needed warm boots. He bought nice ones rated to -25 degrees for only $25.
On the way there we were talking. I told hubby that bird woman upstairs was coming home as I was heading down to the basement to wash clothes. In case you didn't know, this apartment building has a locked entry door. I noticed she was standing there in the frigid cold fumbling for her keys. This woman has never answered when I say hello. I opened the door to let her in. She looked surprised, frightened, and stepped back. "Come in", I said gently. "Thank you", she answered in a tiny voice. We each went our own way, but I was happy that maybe I made a difference in her life. I told my hubby I don't think she is bad, I think she is afraid of people, autistic, maybe.
The locked entry doors, frosty from cold
Hubby told me his mom had her surgery and she's fine. She had fibroids. Then we were talking about health. Hubby recalled how we were turned away from a clinic in Indiana. It was a clinic I had visited many times in the past. We were turned away for "only" having the "Bronze" level of Obamacare. He told me that made him very sad. It wasn't the first time health care in Indiana kicked me to the curb. I could write stories for pages. Hubby knows the stories, the denial care, the never care, the "go away you have no insurance" non-care.
Then we laughed about how easy California is. Before we moved I applied for coverage in California. After we moved we received a letter stating that we didn't qualify because our income was too low (hubby hadn't started working yet, we only had my social security), so they enrolled us in MediCAL, California medicaid. I was shocked!
In the state of Indiana this was a big NO-NO! Immigrants can NOT have any kind of Medicaid services unless it is to save a life, in which case the state of Indiana will then sue for repayment.
We drove to the local office. The lady told us, "Oh, you're fine, we even cover undocumented immigrants in California.
Again we laughed about when we tried to cancel it. The lady sat there with a dumbfounded look on her face. "Why would you want to cancel it?" she asked. "Because we no longer qualify," I explained. She told me no one "gets off" MediCAL, it just expires by itself. Ok, awesome! Free health care. Wisconsin also has expanded medicaid, although hubby has insurance through work and I have Medicare.
Hubby said to me, "We've both had a hard life, I think we are really blessed now. Life is easy here." "Yes," I answered, "but you work so hard." "I like to work," hubby answered. He seemed so at peace, so at home, finally.
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