24 February 2018

 I went to Kilulu to see Freda on Tuesday and she was in much better spirits, back to her usual self.  During our visit she mentioned something about possibly being moved to another location but she had no more detail…or couldn’t remember.  The main concern she expressed was that she would miss the beautiful view from her sitting room window and the antics of the family of Vervet monkeys that she can watch from the same window.    I thought her 97-year-old brain was confused.   Throughout her five year stay at Kilulu, excluding my 2 furloughs, I have been faithful to make the monthly visit ($40 taxi ride) using our time together to perform small needed tasks like mending her clothes, tweezing chin whiskers, etc.   I couldn't believe that no one would inform me about the possibility of such a move.

Just an hour ago I received a phone call from Ursula B. telling me that Kilulu is being handed over to a charitable trust and they are moving Freda to Nairobi this next week.   What a shock!  No one besides Freda had mentioned this possibility to me so I was really caught off guard.

I don’t travel to Nairobi very often so I will not be able to visit Freda nearly as often as I have been doing for the past 5 years.    Ursula told me that she would provide the mailing address of the new residence so that I can send cards or notes to Freda.

I have to say, the news came out of left field and hit me hard.  For several days, I struggled with feeling hurt that no one mentioned it to me until almost the last minute; feeling anxious that Freda would feel abandoned and there being nothing I can do to change the situation; feeling in some sense robbed of meaningful purpose.  

Having lived in Mombasa for 30+ years Freda doesn’t have even a sweater and Nairobi is cold so on Monday morning (26^th), Christine and I went shopping to an area close to the ferry with lots of used clothes stalls to try and buy Freda some warm clothes.  I got her 2 quilted jackets and 2 pair of sweatpants.