Greetings!
My name is Ryan Smith and I live in Ada, OK. This may get a little personal, so please bear with me. I'm looking for an escape, a respite, to focus my thoughts, re-center my soul, and restructure a life strategy for this upcoming year.
I'm a caregiver to a friend with cerebral palsy. He's in a wheelchair with some arm and hand mobility, and I'm responsible for getting him up, showered, ready for the day, drive him where he needs to go, cook dinner, then wind down and get him into bed. After Covid, we've had indescribable difficulty finding a backup for me. In fact, we've had no luck at all. So I've been on seven days per week and on call 24/7 for the past eight months with no day off.
I’m also a single dad to a sixteen year old daughter, so I’m managing two households while trying to manage a modicum of sanity. And yet…
My mom has been suffering from dementia for nearly two years now. It's taken a heavy toll on our family. It's hard, and so very unfair, to see the person you love the most slowly disappear a little more each day.
My dad is my hero, but he's stubborn and seething with hubris. He refuses to find a place that is designed to help those with dementia and Alzheimer's. As long as she recognizes her home, she stays. Now he's killing himself taking care of her (wonder where I get it?), unable to even stand for flares of arthritis and gout in his knees.
Sisyphus had it easy. He only had ONE boulder.
With that being explained, would any kind host please direct me to a listing that they feel would be best for me to spend a four day weekend toward the end of January or through mid-February? While seclusion is preferred, I’m more than happy to be in a more social setting, telling stories, laughing, and playing music around a campfire. The *only* reason I’m asking for suggestions is because just looking for something is overwhelming at this point of synaptic degradation, and I know someone somewhere out there will read this and shout “Ah! I know *exactly* where he's been, how he feels, and WHERE he needs to go!”
I'm quiet, will most likely play my guitar or read, but will spend the majority of my time learning to speak Bokmål, the language of Norway and half my heritage (Choctaw being the other, so I finally understand why I'm so drawn to nature).
I'm looking forward to any suggestions you may have, and very eager to hear from you.
Best regards,
Ryan Smith