SSI -- Mission Almost Accomplished

So, if you've been keeping up with my efforts to obtain Supplemental Social Security for Sophie, now that she's eighteen years old, I am happy to report that the new debit card and first check has arrived. While the final approval will take around six months, Sophie is already eligible to receive the million dollars per month owed her, and I bought the pretty blank book pictured above to enter all of her expenses.

In all seriousness, I am so very grateful for the help Sophie is receiving from our government, from your taxes and mine and appreciate that this entitlement is one not afforded to many in this big, old world. A couple of years ago, I used to read and periodically scuffle with a very conservative lawyer blogger in Texas. I remember a post of hers where she paraphrased some politician or right-wing pundit as saying that those "on welfare" were never thankful enough for it. You know what they were talking about -- the welfare queens riding around in Cadillacs and using their diaper money to buy flat screen televisions, lazy and shiftless and unwilling to work, ungrateful for the cash raining down on them from our pockets. It rankled me then, but not in the way I imagine she or the pundit would want. I know, for a fact, that most of us receiving assistance would rather not have it be so, but that we are grateful beyond imagining for it. I imagine that it's the rare person who isn't grateful for any help at all taking care of their young adult with disabilities. We probably can't grovel at the world's feet, but it's pretty close.

For all of you out there who are waiting for your own children's 18th birthdays to come, hang on. The process was far simpler and more efficient than I had foreseen, another dreaded milestone that came and went with far less fuss and angst than I imagined.