Nature Songs ~~~~
May continued ~~
May 23, 2001 - Best I back up and make a correction of myself. La-La Land was the place to be for me late last night or I could refer to it as very early this morning. This morning it dawned on me that I had made several mistakes. In an e-mail to a friend, I referred to the next class I have signed up for as Lord of the Lands. Where that came from, I know not! Bright and early, even before leaving for Q4L, I sent another e-mail rescinding that mistake and telling her the correct title, The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien Even now - maybe it has something to do with the dark -I’m having to think twice about the title ... Lord of The Rings.
I may not have slept much at all last night, but surely that missed time will be made up tonight. My eyes are heavy and ready to rest now. That is a good sign. No need for thinking about working puzzles. I have a stack of them that have been building up because of all the time I’m spending on the web classes. Meanwhile even a bigger stack is building up of worked puzzles and outdated papers outdoors. The recycle truck has not bothered to come up our drive now for the fourth Wednesday in a row.
NascarKid’s special award was not from Chapel Hill, but I was in the general vicinity! He received the Duke University Talent Identification Program Award for excellence in grades and achievement.. In reading, he was rewarded for good work in the Accelerated Reader, Top reader for the number of books read, The Eleanor T. Huffman award, plus the highest reading level in his classroom. He should get his picture made with his awards around him as a keepsake in the years to come. Now to get all of his attention on his upcoming trip to Australia. Only a few more weeks and it will be time for he and Tbird to load up their supplies and head out on that twenty hour plane ride to the Land Downunder.
The “M” on my laptop is slowly disappearing on my keyboard. All the other characters are fine; just that one shows use and the word dims on top of the key as I keep pecking away. Does that mean it is time to trade in this model for an updated version? Or is this a sign that the one I’m using is working fine, well-used and only getting broken in? Looking at the options I use on this one, it is all I need. I could use a new battery in it so it would not have to be hooked up to the electric current all the time. A few more games would be nice on it. I have to think about the option of being able to use a CD. Is it really something that I can do without? ...Always questions ...
As I left the house to make my trek over to see Mother, Oreo was outdoors. Lady was here spinning her magic and had taken time to bring him outside for a romp around the house. When he saw me leaving he took off after the car. He wanted to ride with me. I had to laugh at the silly dog! I stopped and opened the door for him to jump in with me. He looked back and saw Lady running toward the car, and Oreo immediately ran around the front of the car instead of jumping inside with me. Lady had to command him to “SIT” before he would stop so she could pick him up to carry back to the house. I continued on my way.
Time spent with Mother today was not nearly as long as she would have wished. I spent an hour with her, but some of the time set aside for her was taken up with a quick trip to the bank for money to pay Lady today. Thinking I would stop at Burger King for supper to eat along with Mother as she ate her own meal, was not a good choice. They were short some workers and the same girl that took the Drive-through order had to also make the sandwiches ordered and get up the rest of the orders. She was not in any hurry or working on what I would consider an adequate pace was the position she was holding. True to Southern Tradition - or some believe - she was extremely slow as she sauntered around the counters behind the cash registers. A study in slow motion, it would have been easy to learn what she was doing if one was watching to see how things were done.
May 24, 2001 - Sometimes I want to shout, “It isn’t fair! Why now? Why do things always have to be like this?” I know the answer, but I don”t want to accept it. I want to go back to how it used to be. Any sound uttered would be to no avail. Life happens. As a human, I accept.
Dressed and ready to leave for Quest, I stop to heat a bagel in the microwave to eat for breakfast as I drive. The phone rings and my world is changed forever. Less than a half minute was all it took. The call was to telo me that Auntie died this morning. Mother’s baby sister. She was doing so well following surgery to open the artery on her neck.
As it would happen, a call from Alabama yesterday came from her sister and they got to talk together. Her brother called from Morehead City where he is on vacation to check on her and he thought she was improving. All seemed to be going well.
She took a turn for the worse during the night and was taken back to the hospital. Around six in the morning the call was made that she was failing fast and had been put on a respirator. Before anyone couold make it to the hospital her heart finally gave up its struggle to survive and she slipped away into peace.
Calls to notify the family, e-mails sent to those I couldn’t call and the all important trip to the nursing center. Allan was here to go with me for that encounter. The news hurt Mother, but she cried only a few tears. It’s been a difficult day.
I’m writing longhand instead of typing. Wendy borrowed my laptop to use at the library. That empty spot on the night stand looks strange without it there. Writing out the words tends to slow me down as well. When I type I can record my thoughts quicker and not loose track of what I want to write.
Life for me did not stop. In fact, it could be said I had to change gears to speed up the pace for today. NascarKid and DynoKid ended their year of school at 11:30 a.m. and I had to pick them up since Mom had to stay the full school day. She was standing out with the car riders so she could talk to me. My sad news came first which brought her to tears. She so loved her great aunt.
Her news added yet another extra gear to my day. Hubby was going with her back up the mountain to see her doctor this afternoon. Her jaundice is not improving with the treatment being given to her by the herbologist and she wants to see Tbird today. I need to pick up Giggles and keep her with the other two. Our afternoon spread into the late evening. It was about nine o’clock before all were loaded up and headed home.
May 25, 2001 - Phone calls - messages - e-mails- a very busy morning with no time for the water. It was lunch time before I got over to spend some time with Mother. She got to play Bingo this morning which took her mind of her sadness for a while.
My cousin was delayed with his trip up from New Orleans. He had to stop for the night in Alabama with his wife and dogs and didn’t make it to Hickory till around five this afternoon. The Funeral Home was pushing to get arrangements done today. No doubt because of the holiday weekend. My friend and I ended up doing much of the funeral arrangements for Auntie. Looking back, I can see that actually I was the only one that knew some of the arrangements such as names of the family and where her plot was located in the graveyard being of utmost importance.
The vocalist needed a suggestion for a suitable song to sing. The ladies of the Church needed to know about planning a meal for the family - and how many may be there. It was close to five before I had contact with someone to get the pallbearers lined up for Sunday afternoon. No doubt, my cousin would have had problems with those items since he lives so far away.
Mother finally agreed this evening that she would try to go to the church Sunday. Hopefully, she will not change her mind. There are many in the family that would like to see and talk with her. We will eat at the church following internment and she can stay at the church and wait for the family to return.
Tbird is still not doing well. I thought I had her ready to make a trip to the Emergency Room at the hospital until Hubby mentioned it was Friday night of a vacation and it would be busy.
May 26, 2001 - These early phone calls! Another one this morning to let me know that Tbird had decided to go get herself checked out to see what may be keeping her jaundice. I needed to drive over to her house and pick up the children since Hubby had already planned to do some work with somebody in his workshop this morning. Her nursing friend was taking her to Frye Regional Emergency Room in Hickory. She checked in shortly before nine. After hours of xrays, blood tests, prodding, sonargrams and such, there was the long wait to find out what the attending physician had to pronounce. He pronounce very little other than what she already knew. Bed rest and drink lots of fluids. In his opinion, the herbs she was given was too strong for her system and caused all the problems. The main test result will not be back until Tuesday morning, so meanwhile, she has to stay in bed and not get out in public. That meant she would be unable to attend Antie’s funeral which nearly broke her heart. She checked out of the Emergency Room at 1:15 p.m.! It had been a long day for her.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch ... we had a long day. I stopped at a nursery and bought three more plants for the yard. We all four went in to see Mother a short time before returning home to wait to hear from Tbird. Where we waited and waited and waited. Her hubby ended up going down to the hospital to check on how things were going, I think. It was about three before they picked up the children.
On another burner, I had something else stewing almost to a boil. Mother decided that SHE was going to the receiving at the funeral home tonight. She called my brother and finally, he was able to get one of his daughters to pick her up at the nursing center and bring her down to Hickory.
I think it was a call from my cousin that changed her mind. He called her this afternoon and was telling her that he would pick her up before the funeral and take her out to the cottage with him. She would then ride in the limoience with him to the church and he would bring her back to the center later in the evening. He also told of going to bed at the cottage last night. He picked up a small pillow and caught a scent of his mother on it which caused him to cry and cry last night - crying himself to sleep. He was disappointed when I told him that she had not opened the two books I ordered from England for him. She never got to read the chapter in the book that was written about him.
After rushing over to take clothes for Mother to wear tonight and tomorrow and cutting her hair so it would look better, I had to hurry home to get dressed myself so I could go down to Hickory with Allan for the receiving for Auntie. There was a crowd of people. Many of them were relatives and most of the others were folks I had grown up with at Church. I had to get out of the closed in feeling I get now when I am in or around a large group. Every little bit I would walk out into the hall where only one or two would be and rest a bit before going back to the crowd. My son was my Mother Hen tonight. Everywhere I went, he was there with me. We stayed until Mother and my brother came and then it was time to say adieu.
May 27, 2001 - Morning comes for a busy day - a most difficult day. First off I have to go to Wally World. Trying to find Mother’s clothes in the drawers of what used to be her room is impossible for me. The boys have a large table pushed up against them. I figure it is easier to make the trip and buy new things than attempt to search for the unsearchable. Her feet have become so tender I also get her a pair of satin slippers to wear in place of regular shoes. That will be better than the booties she is accustomed to wearing.
Instead of McD’s as usual this morning, it is BoJ’s drive-through and then eating the biscuit as I drive over to tend to Mother for a short time. The coffee I save for later since it is always too hot for me. The CNA has already planned to get Mother up as soon as all the breakfast duties are over and I tell them that she has to be ready before twelve since her nephew will be coming to get her. Clothes laid out, afghan folded along with them for her to take for her legs since she is wearing a dress today and sunglasses perched on top since she is sensitive to any and all bright lights - and then a fresh coat of nail polish to freshen up her finger nails. Time for me to come home.
We go back a long time together, Auntie and me. When I was around seven years old, we moved into the big roomy homeplace with the family. She taught me to shoot my first BB gun as we shot iciciles off the roof’s edge along the front poarch that cold winter. Through the years we have done so many things together. Sunday’s we were in the car together when we stopped at Valdese Sunbeam Bakery for fresh hot loaves of bread to pull of large chunks and eat in the car as we rode. When she was driving I was often along with her and my Grandmother on all sort of jaunts. She had an A-Model car which we would get out and ride around in together a lot and honk the horn at folks as we drove around town.
When she bought a boat we were off to the lake on Wednesday afternoons, and many Sundays riding up and down the lake, taking time to fish once and a while, but mostly riding and feeling the wind rushing through our hair and pushing against our bodies as we watched for the wakes left by other boats passing by.
Then she married, but we still did things together quite often. Not long after she was married we all packed into her car and took off for Orland, Forida, to visit relatives. It was a very different place back then. Only a quaint little town connected by bridges and canals running behind homes. The highway was different. Daytona Beach we could detour off the main highway and ride along the beachfront on the sand. Our trip was hot since the car had smaller windows than today’s car and no air conditioning, plus that heavy dark uphostry that held evern more heat. We read Burma Shave signs to pass the time as we rode.
A son was born and I was elected to babysit on many ocassions. One summer when my grandmother wa sick and in the hospital, I took care of him, another cousin, cooked lunch for twelve and survived the summer. I was only fourteen, but it was quite a learning experience. Later as my cousin grew, Mother would go for weeks at a time with him to the beach to stay since Auntie had to work and couldn’t stay for that long. They grew very close during those times and have always been close; hence, his need to have her with me today.
I worked with her at her insurance office off and on since I was sixteen as she would need extra help or someone to fill in. It was while we were working together once that she and yet another cousin hatched up the plan for me to go on a blind date! It was on this date that I met the person of my dreams and married him. I continued helping out some at times in her office for years after that.
About 1980 we took a trip to Canada. Being excitied about going the three of us making the trip could not sleep so we got up and started out about one am. That first day on the road extended into a seventeen hour drive all the way through much of the state of New York. We spent ten days together on that trip and covered a lot of Eastern Canada up to Montreal, Ottawa, The Thousand Islands, Toronto and Niagara Falls. That was our last long trip. We did tour Washington D.C, together for several days. After that most trips were to Oak Island and her home at Youpon. It was here that she found out about her heart condition as she spent three days in Southport Hospital on her very last trip to her beach house.
Today that part of life comes to an end as we lay Auntie to rest beside her oldest sister and at the foot of where at some future date Mother will rest beside Dad. I bought new bright pnk flowers for Day today. Pink was his favorite color and I hope to stop by the stop and replace the ones in his urn so they will be bright and fresh for Mother and Brother to see today. They will be there right beside him, along with me.
Looking back:
MAY, 1998
MAY, 1999
MAY, 2000
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Lenoir,NC 28645
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©2001 by Stormy Jeanne
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