I took delivery of my new mattress yesterday. The fee was $90 if they brought it into the house, $45 if they dropped it at the door. They dropped it at the door. My son and I slid it the rest of the way into the bedroom. It was a short trip because this is a small house designed for old, retired people, like me. Later this week we’ll take the old mattress to the dump. I wish there was some way to recycle it, but there’s not.

My newly decorated bedroom is taking shape. The queen bed is smaller than the king bed, and I’ve got new pictures up from the old guest rooms that are now officially my son’s stomping grounds. I repurposed one of the nightstands, it’s by the door for my wallet and keys when I come in. In the old corner where it stood previously, I hung my guitar and put up my music stand. It looks nice. I may buy a tall light to stand in the corner.

I’m still wrestling with a wealth of blankets and throws. I’ve identified the large ones by queen and full. The throws are pretty much all fuzzy. I do have a fair number of them that were knitted by my wife, and we’ll definitely keep those. I’m not real sure what to do with the fuzzy ones. Part of me says to throw them away, but that seems a shame. I may check with the Methodist church and see if they can use them. All this work is starting to wear me out a bit, and I think maybe I should slow down a little. But there’s still a lot to do and I like doing it. So, we’ll see.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale