2020 - A year of fear, upheaval and change

In February 2020, while the citizens of the world were just starting to panic over something called Covid-19, my husband at age 55 had a heart attack. Thanks to many: Paramedics, Doctors, Nurses, family and friends, he survived that attack. As it was for many, 2020 was a year that changed everything for us. Family in New Jersey seemed much too far away as we all self-quarantined. I was at the hospital with my husband when staff first started pulling masks and sanitizer from their lobbies and hallways for fear they would be taken by those desperate for supplies. Luckily my husband was discharged just as the hospitals were locking down on visitors. The stress of his hospitalization made my already out of control symptoms worse and I ended up in the hospital myself. My daughters had to help with care for us both. My oldest daughter was deemed essential to her employer and, while we recovered, we watched her work long hard hours from home to make up for short staffing. Like many, by the time we celebrated the arrival of 2021, it was time to re-evaluate our lives and decide how to proceed in the future. My husband was eligible to retire and did so. We had always dreamed of traveling after his retirement. Admittedly, our dreams were of places like Paris and The Great Wall of China but, pandemic aside, flying had become very difficult to impossible for me due to the symptoms involved with Ulcerative Colitis, let alone the back and joint pain, extreme fatigue, medication side effects, etc. Hence the idea of the RV was born and then realized. Because of monetary concerns we considered all types of RVs but, as a person with Ulcerative Colitis, the Travel Trailers and Fifth Wheels were ruled out as I would not have easy access to the on-board bathroom. We felt the Class A RV was too big for us and found a Class C RV that suited our needs and budget. Now I could travel and bring my bathroom with me. However, as anyone dealing with chronic illness knows, that was only the first obstacle.