This old bird and her nest
Judy Conlin
For all these many years, I’ve lived with that silly alter ego of mine, Nurse Judy, and I have thought of myself as the sensible, clear-headed, forward thinking member of this duo. At this stage in our lives, I have decided that we should probably move into a less isolated, more convenient area as I must travel every day to Tallahassee if I’m going to be able to handle all the medical, dental, and other appointments it takes to keep us going. Not wanting to cut my ties with Havana, I have been looking for a smaller place to live halfway between these two locations. I am proud of myself. This is a good plan. I am proactive.
For the past year, I have been actively working towards that goal, despite my belief that Nurse Judy doesn’t ever want to give up anything she already has, since she would rather just add more to what she’s already got too much of. I ignore this and look at house after house after house. I know you will find this hard to believe, but there are no decent houses out there. They are too big. They are too small. They are too far away .They are too close. They have no trees. They have too many trees. They are too hilly. They are too flat. They are too new. They are too old. They don’t have a fence. Their fence is ugly. I just don’t know what is going on in real estate today.
I don’t give up. I keep looking. I even made an offer on a house. I knew it wasn’t perfect, but I was getting tired. Then, I found I couldn’t sleep, I was so worried about what I had done. When I wasn’t the winner of that bid, I was so relieved I cried. Still, I must continue on. There must be a perfect house for me. That shouldn’t be so hard. What is causing me all these problems?
I spend days thinking about this. I decide it is because I am too kind-hearted and too unselfish. I find Nurse Judy to be exasperating to live with, but I don’t want to make her unhappy by having to give up her home she’s lived in for almost the last 40 years. I am just too nice. I don’t want to disrupt my cats. They hate change and I love them very much. I worry about the neighbor’s cat. She expects to get treats from me. What would the turtles do without me looking out for them-or the deer, or the raccoons, or the possums, or the birds, or the armadillos? I am just not the kind of person who can just walk away from all these responsibilities.
I am feeling better about everything. I sit down in my lounge chair, turn on the TV and tell myself we are not going to move. Nurse Judy, dressed like she’s going to a party when she’s really going nowhere, enters the room. “Whatcha doing?” she asks.
“I’m just sitting here feeling good about my decision to unselfishly stay put right here so I won’t disturb you and all the creatures here that I care for,” I tell her with a self-satisfied smile.
Nurse Judy stares at me. She starts snorting. “You are completely delusional,” she sputters. “You don’t have an unselfish bone in your body.”
“What are you talking about?” I sputter back.
“You are the one resisting change,” she says. “You always want to sit around in your ugly stained bathrobe and live your days in the same old ways in the same old house you always have. I am the one who likes to go out and do new things and see new places and live a more exciting life. Don’t you dare try and say you’re giving up anything for the cats and me.” Her face is all red and I think she’s going to explode , but before I can intervene, she continues, “Young birds are afraid to leave the nest ,but you are an old bird, clinging to your old nest for dear life. Shame on you.”
I’m pretty upset by this revelation from her. Could it be true? I sit there for a moment. “Okay, I’m calling the realtor, and telling her I’m back in the search,” I say.
“Just make sure you only look at houses with huge walk-in closets,” she says with a smirk.
More later,Judy
www.nursejudyinfo.com
