Zero dollars. But her son’s asthma inhaler would be covered. Her muscle relaxants, too.
On a Thursday in October, both envelopes arrived at once. odsp and cpp
The waiting was a physical thing. It lived in her chest, a tight balloon. She checked the mail every day at 10:17 AM, just after the postman’s truck groaned up the hill. Zero dollars
“You don’t qualify for both,” the man on the phone had said. His voice was flat, like a shovel hitting dry dirt. “CPP Disability is for people who paid into the plan. ODSP is the province’s safety net. But if you get CPP, ODSP claws back dollar for dollar after the first $200.” On a Thursday in October, both envelopes arrived at once
Wednesday was for ODSP. Describe your typical day. She wrote: Wake up. Soak hands in hot water. Try to button my son’s shirt. Fail. Cry. Try again. She didn’t write the crying part. She wrote “Assistance required for fine motor tasks.”
Her son, Leo, seven years old, came in with a Lego spaceship. “Did we win?” he asked.
Marta had written that down: Clawback . It sounded like something that happened to animals in traps.