Irony

It's funny how life works sometimes. Ironic that my sister posted the post she did yesterday. And also ironic is how the timing of the next 24 hours played out.

We drove to Potsdam yesterday morning to celebrate an early Thanksgiving Dinner as a family. After dinner, my parents were going to watch our kids while we went to Gouveneur to visit very close friends, including one couple who is only in the States for a few days.

We had a lovely dinner with my parents, my family, and my sister and her boyfriend. It was a nice several-hour affair with yummy homemades, including an apple pie I made upon my mom's request. We visited and then headed to visit our friends for the evening. We had a lovely time with some of the most amazing people I know. The kind of people you can only hope to have as friends. Relaxing, music, food and wine, and games. Just an overall nice evening. And then a leisurely morning of homemade banana bread and coffee.

I was supposed to get together with my sis for coffee on our way back through, but she wasn't feeling great, so we skipped it. I called my mom to check on the kiddos and see if there was anything I could grab from town. She suggested the paper for my dad. So we found a store that had his preferred paper in stock, and headed home. All the kids were playing a reading quietly when we walked in the door. I went to the living room to bring my dad his paper. He was napping and didn't really respond to my handing him the paper. So my mom kinda hollered for him to wake up and be sociable. But then he still didn't respond, which was odd. When he did respond he was clearly out of it and incoherent. And then we noticed the right side of his face was kinda droopy. Oh $h!t!! So talk about crazy timing. Dial 911--they are on their way. My kids are packed into the car and headed to the store to "run an errand" by the time the ambulance arrives.

They do their thing; my dad is on his way to the ER. I ride with my mom and my hubby takes the kids to lunch and the playground. My mom had tried to send us back to VT, which is what the original plan was. Nice try, mom. I'm not going anywhere except with you <<>>.

Crazy next few hours, but a CT shows no bleeding in the brain and no tumor (which was one possible explanation). So it turns out to be "just" a small stroke. But it could have been worse, I guess??!!!?? Certainly didn't seem that way at the time.

When we finally headed back to VT this evening, he had been admitted and was still "stroking" as they called it. By the time my sister left awhile later, he seemed to have improved and had some coherent moments and his limp right side was a little stronger.

So now it's more of a waiting game. See what happens over the next few days. He may go home soon; he may never go home.

I'm thankful for a lot of things in this life.

• Thankful for the extra time we have managed to get over the last 8 months.
• Thankful that we were able to have a nice dinner together right before this happened.
• Thankful I was able to be there for my mom when this did happen--she always acts like things are fine and she has everything under control, but I know it's a facade most of the time. She's good at bullshitting to protect us when she feels the need to do so.She is my rock.
  
• I'm thankful for supportive family and friends, as I really don't know what I would do without them.

And I'm thankful for the love that has always surrounded me that helps me to be positive even when the world is crashing down around me. My mom and dad are amazing people, and even in the face of all this, they have been optimistic and upbeat.

As my dad would say, now we just "wait and see what develops."