To give up smoking dope and sniffing glue……..
We held my sister’s memorial service on Friday. We also got the cheery news that my mother had been admitted to the hospital for a “stroke like event”-she could not get her right arm to move. My father wanted us to finish our business in Tampa though so we stayed through to this morning and flew back to North Carolina.
Went straight from the airport to the hospital. Mom is doing better today and the “event” as it might be, is being described by the doctor as mild. However at the age of 90-there is nothing like a a non-event any more. Mom can speak and recognizes all of us-but her conversation does not follow a logical progression. She is still feisty as ever though and that’s probably the best sign. She wants to go home-but the doctors say its too soon to talk about that yet. So it looks like I will be here longer than I expected-although I do need to get back to Nippon by next weekend, if at all possible. There are still a lot of things for me to get figured out including where I am going to be living come June. Something is going to fall into place I know-and hopefully soon ; and if not there is always Wal-Mart or tending bar at (fill in the blank). However it is pretty clear now-at least for the next couple of years that barring a miracle-that bar will not be located where I want it to be located. Which, given the current complexity of the family situation may be just as well.
We are trying to do two things. Keep our mother company and keep my father from exhausting himself. Dad is holding up well-but then he has always been rather stoic. Unlike me he is given more to dry irony then blunt wit. But the strain is showing some. My Dad is not a talker about such things. Even as we were growing up he was given over more to long silences which were combined with precise direction when he wanted things done. That’s how the role of Dad was perceived in his day. You went to work, you provided for your family, and provided discipline at home. The emotional stuff was for Mom. Besides by the time I came along the other four of my siblings had already given them a good work out on all three of those sub-areas. Truth be told, I did too. It is a wonder we ever survived it-or they did. But I think deep down they are both strong people. I think you had to be to get through the era they came of age-during the Great Depression followed by the Second World War.
At least here we have more of a support system between my other sisters, neighbors and me. Plus we are not having to burn through cash.
I may need to pray for North Carolina to get boxed out the basketball tournament early though. Other wise parking around the hospital is going to be a bear. It already is due to loads of construction.
Is it just me or have college students gotten younger? They sure look younger anyway. Then again maybe it is the other way around. I’m just getting older. But that its not supposed to happen to me…………….. 🙁
I did pick up a book the other day-I am about 100 pages into The Nine by Jeffery Toobin. It seems pretty good so far. Read it on the plane coming up here and I will probably read it on the plane going back.
Meanwhile back in Japan there is lots of news to catch up on about Okinawa and other things. More news on that tomorrow. I’ve got be up early and get my Dad his breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day-particularly in this week that is coming up.