Last Week's Adventure

Last Saturday I was halfway through a very yummy breakfast sandwich when the phone rang. It was my niece and she was crying so hard I could barely understand her. By the time I got her settled down, I was hit with the knowledge that my mother had a heart attack. After learning that my oldest sister was unavailable to give me the rest of the details (because she was calling all my other siblings), I got the name of the hospital and began trying to find out the reality of this whole thing.

After being bounced to a couple different departments, I landed a nurse who just happened to be standing next to my mom. She told me that Mom was fine and she was just headed to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. I could hear Mom talking in the background, so I was pretty sure she was fine. In fact, the nurse told me Mom was on the phone with my oldest sister, otherwise I would've been able to talk to her, too.

So, Mom was okay. The disaster was averted. (And believe me, losing my mother would've been a major disaster.) Now that my own heart was beginning to return to normal, I talked about my feelings with my hubby. I told him that while I was on hold with the hospital, I was mentally clicking through all the things I would need to do to get out there if the worst had been true. He told me not to wait for the worst.

And like usual, he was right.

Around noon Saturday I booked tickets for my daughter and I to fly home. For those of you who don't know, I live in Colorado. My mother lives in Michigan. This makes quick visits and emergencies problematic. It also makes them expensive. But we did it. Sunday morning we were on a plane headed for Detroit.

By the time I reached the hospital, Mom had been transferred out of CICU, and she was set to be released on the following day. She was looking pretty damn good for a woman approaching 70 who had just had a coronary. She was also looking pretty damn bored and sick of being incarcerated in a hospital. (She shares my hatred of most things medical.)

Needless to say, I sprung her the next day and we spent the week with her recuperating. We watched a lot of TV. I cooked a lot of heart healthy meals. We talked and talked and talked. It was a good visit, and my honey was so very right. I needed to be there, and she needed me there. It was expensive, but it was more than worth it.

The holiday season this year almost sucked in a major way. I don't even want to revisit all those images I had before I learned my mother was going to be okay. Instead of sucking, though, it turned out to be a Merry Christmas.

May all your loved ones be happy and healthy. The rest is just glitz and sugar.