our mailman quit

To keep some privacy on behalf of our mailman, I'm going to say his name is Fred.

For 2.5 years Fred visited us daily, I could sent my clock to his schedule. He is friendly and courteous. Fred always went the extra mile, he wouldn't put our oversized mail in the pick-up box, leaving the key for us to find in our ordinary mail slot; he would personally bring me the boxes along with any letters, saving me the trip to go fetch them. Fred would also give me a heads up when he was leaving for a few days or a few weeks so I was very surprised in the Fall of 2021 when he stopped showing up. It was at least 3 weeks, if not longer, before he returned as somewhat the same jolly man I had remembered. I instantly, without a care for his privacy, asked him what happened? 'Where did you go?' I truly had expected him to say that he was on a beach somewhere and forgot to tell me. Fred said his appendix burst which led to a bunch of complications due to his age and weight. He had been in ICU for a little over a week and then an extended hospital stay for recovery. I was happy to see that he was back on his feet and he seemed very tired but otherwise alive and well. This brings us to the now, Fred quit. He brought me my last bundle of envelopes that would have fit in my mailbox but he wanted to hand them to me personally to say, 'this is my last day'. Of course I HAD to ask 'Why?' and secretly thinking, 'NO! DON'T LEAVE ME!' He said he had worked for the US Postal Service for almost 30 years and he is still considered a 'contract worker' meaning they do not give him health benefits. The surgery and hospital stint came with a $68,000 bill that he had negotiated with the hospital down to $42,000 which was still completely unaffordable with his wage and his family's budget. He loved delivering mail which is why he had stuck it out as long as he could but everything changed when he needed medical attention. Fred's new factory job gives him health benefits and a salary bump. I was so very sad to see him go and I am glad that he found something "better".

Getting to know Fred, a smile/wave or short conversation every weekday for 2 years, put the health care risks right up in my face. This is the first calendar year that Kevin and I have NO health insurance. The plan premium was $1200/month with a $13,000 annual deductible. We decided to set aside as much as possible every month to prepare for the unexpected but we both know we are betting with our entire life savings. We kept our critical illness insurance from Canada, it's a $100,000 benefit paid to either of us if/when we are diagnosed with one out of twenty-four illnesses which includes cancer, stoke and heart attack (known as the Top 3). Other than that policy, our savings account, and knowing that we have health care coverage in Europe thanks to our Portuguese citizenship, we couldn't imagine an emergency situation. For this exact reason, we know our days in the US are numbered. Immigration is a gamble in itself, our future is in the hands of the US government and their rules which seem to change with the weather. Add the risk of getting sick or hurt and you can honestly call us crazy. We've always said we want to move to Portugal and that will be our next step. It's not going to be easy or fast, like our move from Canada to the US, but its inevitable because we need the peace of mind of health care and to be free from lawyers and paperwork. Fred said he never worried about health scares or injuries because it had never happened to him before. I didn't say it to him but I thought to myself, ignorance is bliss.