When did this chapter begin?

I've spent hours and hours sitting here trying to figure out when this final chapter started and one event stands out among all the rest.
Due to a number of debilitating injuries in the past I had been on disability for about 3 years when my lawyer reminded me I was nearing the "ripe ol' age of 65" and it was time for me to get off disability and on to Social Security. After what seemed like months he finally notified me that this transfer had been made and all I needed to do was go to the Social Services office to finish up the paperwork. I was anxious to get this over with so the next day I went to the office. I walked into what was obviously a government building. It was all brick and not very welcoming. There was no one in the office. I stood there patiently for quite awhile and even though it wasn't noon it appeared everyone had gone to lunch. No one came to the front desk. Finally I started yelling, "Is anybody here? Hello!"
This young gal came to the desk and very abuptly asked , "Who do you want to see?" I said I have no idea. I'm here to finish up the paperwork on my Social Security. Very abuptly she said, "Well, I have to know who you are here to see before I can help you." I said, "Well, I guess we're out of luck then because I have no idea who it is. Don't you have people here who take care of people like me who are trying to finish up their application for Social Security?" She didn't answer and without saying a word she walked away. How rude could she have been? I could feel the frustration building up inside of me. A few minutes later another woman came to the desk and said, "Come with me!" I was ready for anything not knowing where I was going to end up! She led me down a long hallway and finally into a small room. There was a desk, a computer, two chairs and 4 baren walls. She said somebody will be right with you. Well, nobody was "right with me!" I sat there staring at those 4 walls for nearly an hour. Finally a lady came in, handed me a a questionnaire and a pencil. She said, "Just answer the questions on the form," and without another word she left the room.
I didn't know if she was coming back or not but I had answered more than half the questions when she returned. These were very personal questions that took some degree of thought.
Do you have life insurance? Do you have funeral insurance? Do you have a will? Do I have a Will? Why would the government care if I had a will or not? The apprehension was continuing to build inside of me. Instead of asking me politely if I needed more time she roared, "What? You aren't finished yet? I have other things to do today so how much time do you need?" Well, I had other things to do too, and I needed more time than she had given me. She was very arrogant and her callous approach to what was a documentary time in my life took me over. I wanted to say just show me some courtesy, lady, and I'll be out of here. That's all you have to do..but no way was that going to happen. To my surprise like I was some 5-yr old who hadn't yet learned how to read she grabbed the pencil right out of my hand.
I couldn't believe it. Then she grabbed up the form off the table and I couldn't help but wonder what the sam hill is with this gal. I'm not done answering the questions yet! She proceeded to read the remaining questions and I guess she marked them as I answered. I thought we were finished when she announced there was one more question to answer. I thought, oh brother, what question could possibly be left. They already have all the information about me that they would ever need, and it was obvious to me my life was no longer going to be my own, and I was right. The last question she asked me was, "What are your plans for your future?" I couldn't believe it. The government wants to know my plans for the future? Are they crazy asking a question like this? No way was I going to answer it. First of all, I didn't have any plans for the future and even if I did the last people I would tell would be the government!
I looked at her and said, "You know, I have answered thousands of questions at this point but this question is really off the wall. I don't think my future is any of the government's business." Quite sarcastically she said, "Well, it doesn't matter what your plans are OR what you think. You still have to answer the question." "Does my Social Security depend on this answer?" She said, "Look, Ms. Haight, I don't make the rules. I just try to follow them and in order to do this I have to have all the answers!" I sat there for a moment. My future was the last thing on my mind. Who does this arrogant little brat think she is. With all the authority of the government obviously behind her she said, "Just give me an answer!" I sat there contemplating my answer.
Did I have any plans, no, but was I going to tell them that, no! This gal was obviously in love with her position of power when finally she said I'm only going to ask you one more time. What are your plans for the future? I looked her straight in the eyes and said you know what? "My plans for my future are none of the government's damned business and certainly not yours either." She was a little shocked but at that point I didn't give a damn. I picked up my purse, got up and walked out. No one chased after me. No one called my name. I got in my car and left. On the way back home all I could think was screw them. This is America and my future is none of the government's business!
It was a 14-mile ride back home that seemed would never end. I couldn't help but wonder if this is what happens to a person when they reach 65. All of a sudden they are treated like cattle with little, if any, respect, and they have no choice but to turn their lives over to the government? That's what it seemed had happened to me, and after several years of being involved with government turning my life over to them was the last thing I wanted to do!
On $725 a month from Social Security and not being able to work I had no additional income that I could count on and obviously my future will be spent trying to figure out how to survive financially. It's not like I was planning to rob 50 banks, and even if I had answered saying I'm going to travel they would have probably wanted to know where I was planning to go! No way!
I stressed about this for a couple weeks not knowing if because of my radical departure from Social Services that day I had sacrificed my Social Security or not. I had no idea how I was going to survive without it but I was still so mad, so threatened, that I tried not to think about it. One morning I was outside pulling weeds when the neighbor came out to say hello. She was already on Social Security. She asked if I'd gotten my first check yet. I told her what had happened at the Social Services office, but when I told her I had refused to answer their question about plans for my future, and that I had told the government where they could go and what they could do with my Social Security check she just stood looking at me. She didn't say anything but it was obvious she was wondering how I could have done something that stupid. Well, stupid or not I had my principles and the government knowing my plans for my future (even though I didn't have any) wasn't one of them! What I didn't tell her was I had aged at least 5 years stressing out about this. Finally she asked if the mail had come yet. I told her I wasn't sure so we walked over to the row of mailboxes and as always I had a bundle of mail, mostly ads, but at least mail!
As we walked back across the street she was already complaining about the amount of the light bill she had just opened while I was still flipping through the mail to see if there was any of value. Glory be...there it was..my first Social Security check. I yelled, "It's here! It's finally here!" Little did I know I was on my way to a future I would never have imagined in a million years..the Golden Years!