Reflections ►
It’ s Not About Me
It’ s about us, survival and the grit within. by Dolores Halbin, contributing writer
In the March issue of The EVOLUTION Magazine( page 49), my beloved editors, Bill and Victoria Cromwell, dedicated an entire page to a GoFundMe set up by my dear friends Wendy Turner, Karin Spinks, and Katie Thomas after I received a six-week notice to vacate the property where my house, which I have lived in since 2020, was located. The goal was to raise enough for me to buy a camper.
I lived out in the country, about 40 miles south of downtown Kansas City. My only neighbors were my best bud Bonna’ s daughter and Ribbit the pit bull. We lived on 80 acres, quiet, away from the world. And our rent was dirt cheap. The owners lived in China, so we were on our own with repairs, but still, I was able to live comfortably on my Social Security and a part-time job.
Finding nothing in the entire KC Metro that I could come anywhere close to affording became obvious in the first week of my search. That is when I decided to buy a camper. I needed 10 % down, which is exactly what the GoFundMe raised, plus the initial insurance premium.
My original plan seemed pretty solid. When I posted my plan, Katie and Jim Thomas of Blue Key CBD, in Gerald, MO, on the Bourbois River, sent me an invite. I was here once last fall, kayaking down the river and watching the stars come out. I felt a peace that had alluded me before in my life. I want to feel that again. Parking my new( slightly-used) camper there for the summer sounded like a great opportunity.
However, since I knew nothing about campers, camper life, propane, or 30 amps, I took up my friend April’ s offer to move into her driveway and stay till Memorial weekend to figure it all out. That is until, at the last minute, when using Google Earth, the movers told me the driveway was too small by four inches. Now, I had no plan.
The“ Duck” camper parked in the yard between the two barns at Katie and Jim Thomas home. They own Blue Key CBD, in Gerald, MO.
Trailer parks were insanely expensive, and moving“ The Duck,” as we nicknamed the Mallard camper, was also expensive. I called Katie and asked if I could come on down.“ Sure!” she replied. So, I found a company to tow me for a small fortune, and one week later, I landed in Katie and Jim Thomas’ lap.
The movers showed up early, and in spite of tearful pleas for them to wait, they said no, and the new landowner, in spite of more tearful pleas, would not allow my kids to come out the next day to finish packing what I had to leave behind, which was a lot. My entire kitchen, my pots and pans, my boots and shoes, all my food, and I have no idea what else. When I got there, the movers of the camper had beat me, there, opened the camper door, and let my cats out. So I lost my kitties, too. There was a lot of loss to process, and I’ m still hoping my kitties come home.
There are men here who will be able to make the Duck run, but we had to order a lot of parts, which will not arrive for a week.
They told me on the beautiful, sunny, warm spring Tuesday that I arrived, starting the next day, the forecast called for rain and storms, and it would be cold for an entire week. And not just rain, but rain up to a foot. We have received ten inches of rain so far, and I can see the swollen river from my window.
The Duck was parked across the road from my friends on a slab, which will eventually have electricity, but I was under a tree with two big limbs. So, the fellas hooked The Duck up to a tractor, pulled it right into Jim and Katie’ s yard, and parked it between the barns. They ran an extension cord out and gave me a space heater. They have fed me, let me use the bathroom and laundry, and made sure I am warm and safe.
38 May 2025