Leaving Belize
This last post of "UnBELIZEable" summarizes the final months of our stay in Belize. Dave and I thought that we would be staying in Belize until April 2016, but life seemed to get in the way of our plans! But first, here are some memories of the last few months.
Early in March, I had cataract surgery just a block down our street with a physician that appeared to be competent and had a clinic with modern equipment. The surgery did not go as planned, and the doctor stopped before completing the cataract removal "in fear of" (which turned out to be after) puncturing the eye. My vision did not improve, though the doctor continued to say that time would improve the vision. The poor vision was in large part why I quit writing blogs...just too difficult to see. (The outcome of this journey was surgery in July in Tucson to repair the considerable damage with the placement of a new lens. Problems continue with treatment, now for edema behind the retina. With the successful cataract removal in the other eye here in Tucson, though, I can see much better!)
Just a few days after the surgery in Belize, Dave and I attended the Black & White Ball hosted by the Prime Minister's wife. My friend, Karen Simplis, graciously invited us to be at her table. Dave and I dressed up for the event (thanks to Yvette for lending us appropriate clothes)!
The affair was beautiful! As the dinner began, the lights dimmed, and a parade of servers brought bottles of champagne to the tables, blazing with sparklers!
We enjoyed seeing all of the people that we knew...a surprisingly large number!
And we each took home gift bags! 
Dave began a project to improve the storage and security of airplane supplies for BERT at the hangar. Whenever he went on a flight, he left the hangar door open. While nothing was missing, he wanted a storage unit that would be more difficult to enter and larger to accommodate the supplies in an organized way. The Mennonites do beautiful construction, and Dave was very pleased with his storage unit after it was delivered--a story in itself! Some of the crew that was constructing the new airport were called in to help get this structure off the truck and into place in the hangar!
And there was enough room for the plane, too!
Bicycling is a popular sport in Belize. One of the big cross country races began (early in the morning) and ended just blocks from our apartment. We walked over to BTL Park to watch the finish! Here are people lined up, seeing the first bicycler just approaching!
This little girl was excited to see the racers coming!
In April, we enjoyed having Linda Loye, her sister-in-law and her niece visit! We gave them a little tour of Belize City, and here we are near St. John's Cathedral!
One of the joys of living in Belize was the chance to meet people, especially the Belizeans whom we came to love. But we also became great friends with Laura and Bill Connelly who created a group home for girls. When Laura went back to Florida for visits, we took over dog walking duty! Here I am with Duke beside the sea!
When I returned to the USA, Dave took over this responsibility!
On April 30th, I flew to Tucson, AZ to be the cook/nurse/housekeeper/driver while my brother, Greg, recovered from knee replacement surgery. I took the opportunity of being in the States (still planning on returning to Belize) to have my bad eye examined by an opthalmologist in Tucson. The doctor was not pleased with what he found: a vitreous leak from inside the eye that resulted in the pupil being misshapen and immobile, cataract material left in the eye, and the lens not in correct position. He sent me to a retina consultant who repaired a slight tear in the retina. Then surgery to repair the eye and insert a new lens was scheduled for July.
On June 1st, Dave and I had scheduled a long vacation to visit friends and family across the United States. We carried on with that plan! The vacation was wonderful, except for a mishap while visiting our daughter, Maria, and her children, Erica and Lorenzo. Dave was playing football with Erica at the park when he fell; then later he passed out and fell at the house, resulting in a two day stay in the hospital. His bad knee (from surgery when he was 17 years old) was badly damaged, and it became clear soon after that he also needed a knee replacement. Suddenly, our plans to stay in Belize changed.
The result of the summer challenges with Dave's knee and my eye was a move to Tucson to handle medical issues. I returned to Belize for a few days in September to help Dave pack up the apartment. And I packed up my office at the Children's Center, which was very hard. Saying good-bye to the children and to the staff was difficult, as it was difficult for Dave to say good-bye to the BERT staff. I was able to see many of my friends before getting on the plane with two cats and our bags to fly to Florida with Harvest Aviation, a non-profit that transports missionaries and supplies to and from Belize.
Dave and I made one last trip to Cayo. Here Dave is having lunch at the Orange Gallery, a favorite place of ours.
(A special treat was having Yvette Burks and Jack Barnes join us there!)
After Dave and I arrived in Tampa, we began a long drive in a rented van across the southern United States until we arrived at our current condo in Oro Valley. Maddy and Izzie, our cats, were very relieved to have arrived! What a challenging trip with them!
At this point in time, Dave has had his knee replaced (one week after my brother had his second knee replaced--I was a busy nurse for a while), and he has completed physical therapy. He walks better now than he has in 48 years! We are not sure how long we will stay in Tucson, but we have enjoyed the weather and the new places to explore!
Dave and I miss Belize--our sense of purpose, the people, the new area to explore (but not the humidity). Without a doubt, it was a peak experience of our lives--both of us agreeing that we do not regret a minute of the experience. One day we will return to visit!
The end of a Journey
(And what might the future hold?)
