Parents

So, I'm still catching up from the 16th and the next topic is actually somewhat appropriate: my family and myself.  Why?  Because I got a call at around 3:30am on the 16th to let me know that my mother was in the hospital.  They thought it was a stroke but they weren't sure.  They said she had a seizure and went into a coma, but she woke up in the hospital in Athens, GA so they were doing tests.  Turned out that she did NOT have a stroke and they still don't know why she had the seizure. 

But this episode highlighted something about my family.  We are so used to living apart that when something happens, our first instinct is "how do we get there?"  We have grown up really spread out, but we are actually a really close family.

One of my sisters lives in Charlotte and she and her husband were able to drive down to be with Mom and Dad in Georgia.  My brother was able to stop in with Dad on his way to training in SC, and his wife and oldest daughter went to see Mom in the hospital.

My other sister and I felt somewhat helpless because we lived too far away to be much help.  (Plus the fact that my cell phone had gotten stolen that weekend, so my number didn't work and they couldn't reach me.  Thank goodness for that work cell phone!)  My mother was sent back home the next day, but apparently she will no longer be able to drive because of the seizures.  And she has been the driver for my parents for a few years!  So what are they going to do?

I've got some time off in December, so I'm thinking about heading down there to stay with them for a couple of weeks.  But will that be enough?  I'm worried about my parents, so I'm thinking about something more long term.  Of course, I will have to see if it's an idea that will even fly with them.

I'm the only kid in the family who is single, so I feel that I have a little more freedom to possibly move in with them.  My job is pretty flexible about telecommuting, although it might require a shift in job responsibilities.  What about my cat?  I think he's too big to carry on a plane, and who wants to go through the groping required to fly these days anyway?  But I can't leave him alone for two weeks, or even longer.  I have friends who could come check in on him, but two weeks?  I don't think *I* would last!

Anyway - lots of questions, lot of serious thoughts, and now you know why I haven't been writing this last week.  (Well that plus "The Next Three Days" sneak preview, "Hair - The Musical" at the Kennedy Center and the new Harry Potter movie... twice. Oh, and the Redskins won on Sunday!  Woot!)

Thanksgiving is in two days, and I'm really looking forward to sharing it with the Virginia contingent of the family (i.e. The Flying Cavini), and of course, the obligatory Harry Potter movie on Friday.  I have seven work days off for this vacation/holiday, and it is going tooooooooo fast.  I need more time to make decisions!  And to clean up my house!  And to sleep!

Oh well, more next time...