It was around 5pm on a Friday evening when I decided to call my father to say hello. There wasn’t any answer. After I hung up, the sound of the phone ringing startled me especially when it said Daddy. My mother called me back to tell me that she was at Baptist Hospital with my father. He had been rushed there earlier that morning. As I clicked off, it boggled my mind as to why I wasn’t informed of this horrific event. As I grabbed my purse and ran to my car, complete disregard for attending a party drifted away. Welcome to Memorial Day Weekend of 2014.
After I found my father’s room, we talked for a very long time. There were hard questions that I needed answers to. Funeral arrangements, assisted living, medical access. We agreed that the strain of it all was entirely too much for my dear mother, and I promised to return soon. When I did finally return on another day, he had been admitted. There was a lot of sitting for me. A few nurses came and spoke. Shortly after my mother returned to sit with my father, I left for the long ride home.
The question has been asked of me, how do you cope with all of this? Well, there are a lot of good things about this situation. My father is in an excellent hospital. My schedule is about to clear for vacation which will give me more time to devote to him. There is a chapel with a beautiful surrounded by a meditation garden. Spending time there is a great comfort to me. I felt the presence of Mary and angels while meditating so there is a great deal of support. There is a dance class that is coming up that I plan to try and there is talk of me playing another tennis match. My water intake is good and I’ve been working on my sleeping schedule. Why there is even a new book on my night stand.
As for the immediate future, there is no way for me to tell how things will turn. What I plan to do is take good care of myself so that I can be there for my family. We need each other right now as our patriarch begins his sunset.