When we arrived at Susan’s yesterday morning, she was all smiles. She had completely set up her computer work station and was even able to print. Craig set up her TV; Dan broke down boxes and I unpacked her kitchen. She is now fully functional in her new home and can take her time unpacking and organizing.
Susan is with Bill and his brother Phillip on the right . Susan met Bill decades ago when Susan worked for the organization that provided Bill’s first service dog and they have remained great friends since. Bill is the person who called Craig in mid February and said, “We have to get Susan back to Prescott”.
Karen used to work with Bill in Kingman AZ (where Bill still lives). She subsequently moved near Prescott. When Susan relocated to Prescott in the early oughts, Bill connected them and Karen was her first friend. She came over to Susan’s yesterday to welcome her back to Prescott and re-establish their friendship.
Susan is Craig’s 4th wife and he met Bill through Susan. Early in our relationship, Craig shared with me that he had a close friendship with Susan that he hoped I would be OK with. He offered Susan as a reference and I talked to Susan a couple of times. It was clear she and I could become friends as well.
Craig and Dan worked together for decades at the Prescott Post Office and led the local Postal Service Union. They have great stories about their union work that greatly improved the working conditions, morale and productivity of the Prescott Postal Service. Dan met Susan through Craig. Once the idea to get Susan back to Prescott was mentioned on one of this groups periodic Zoom calls, Dan quickly identified the perfect home for Susan and interfaced with the landlord.
Craig and I volunteered to manage the move and the group was able to work through Susan’s resistance to the move. She agreed it would be good for her to get back to Prescott, but couldn’t imagine how she could do everything that only she would need to do. She initially wanted a few months to organize the move but everyone knew she needed to get out of Lafayette as soon as possible. I told Susan her movers were available the last half of March and she agreed to the accelerated timeline with me as the Project Manager. We unloaded her furniture one month later.
Susan has transformed over the 5 days she has been back in Prescott. It has been such a positive experience for all of us to know that our group efforts have been able to make such a profound change for the better in a friend’s life.
It was so wonderful for me to be able to meet Bill and Dan in person. Craig and I now have a couple of days to explore the area before returning home on Tuesday.
Tamara Unleashed 