Friday, April 5, 2013

Challenge 2: Banking

Neal and I used to share many of the tasks related to money. Like many people who have aphasia, my math skills were affected. Neal took over all the financial chores after the stroke. My math skills are much better now and I don't have problems handling money on a day-to-day basis, but I still don't do much of the household bookkeeping.

But the other day I realized that I hadn't deposited a check for more than three years, and that banking is a life skill that I needed to reclaim. Since we had some miscellaneous checks at the house, yesterday I endorsed the checks and drove to the ATM. The procedure for depositing checks had changed since the last time I did it. I didn't need to fill out a special envelope now: I fed the checks into the ATM, they were scanned right a way, and I confirmed the amounts. Neal had warned me about the changes, so I was prepared. It wasn't a big deal.

But still, afterwards I had a fleeting sense of disorientation--as if I had just returned home after being in a country for a while where time seems to pass more slowly.

5 comments:

  1. I've never had the courage to do a deposit with an ATM machine. I'm definitely impressed.

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    1. It was actually easier than writing with my left hand on those little forms--all I needed was to push buttons.

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  2. Congrats on doing something new and reclaiming another skill. I don't always trust those new ATMs but so far so good!

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    1. Thanks. I hope you and your family are hanging in there.

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  3. Yes, yes, yes! I STILL haven't gone to an ATM yet, but think I might do it successfully - especially if I just withdraw. We had the new check deposit procedure before I had the stroke, and I didn't like using it THEN, so I'll probably hate it now.

    Congrats, though - I know how proud of myself I was after buying gas for the first time; have you done that yet?

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