Senior News Line: Making big decisions

Sometimes we need to make tough decisions. We don’t want to. We want to wake up and find the problem is resolved. But we can’t do that, and we know it.

Sometimes we’re faced with a serious life-changing situation such as acknowledging that we need to move a spouse or parent to a care facility because we just can’t manage anymore.

Or, perhaps one of our children needs our long-term help. The question becomes: Do we sell our current home? Do we rent it out in the hope we’ll eventually move back?

Other times the situation isn’t quite as grim, but still requires a serious decision: We clearly need a new vehicle. But where will the money come from?

While my current situation isn’t earthshaking — except maybe to me — it does require a very serious decision to be made. It is: Will I once again register to vote this year? While it might appear to be a no-brainer to many, it really isn’t.

During the last presidential election cycle, my life was consumed with harassing phone calls and people at my door all day, every day, day and night. This went on for a year.

The only peace — and uninterrupted sleep — I got was by unplugging the phone. If I answered the door, I was faced with pushy people insisting I make cash donations to their party and fill out requests for absentee ballots that they would supposedly deliver to the polls on voting day.

Worst, I think, were the get-out-the-vote workers who tried to insist on coming into my house to discuss the issues.

I hung in there until Election Day, stood in line to vote and then went directly to the town office and had them delete me from the voter rolls. I remain, for the first time in my adult life, not registered to vote.

It feels very wrong.