Important Things

There was no single point that screamed, "WATCH OUT!" This week started out like most other weeks. Because the paths of our lives are never completely flat and smooth (who'd want that?), I really didn't notice that the grade was mostly downhill until it got steeper and I had trouble keeping my footing. Before I knew it the steep downhill grade had become a slippery slope and Friday morning found me going over the cliff. Dealing with personnel issues is a challenge, but Tuesday brought three very surprising and unusual, uh, people-problems. Sending an employee home with a cold (he works with food-condtact items), having a grown man leave in tears and finding a ride home for an hallucinating employee would tax the wits of anyone. Then, there are shipping issues. Do you deal with longhaul carriers? Enough said? Usually the brokers, dispatchers and drivers are salt-of-the-earth people willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. And at other times, well, l et's just say that by the end of the day we were all ill and LaRue wound up being the bad guy (gal). That was Wednesday. Have you noticed that when the ba*etric pressure starts dropping, all of us get a little anxious? When it actually starts to rain things get a little calmer, but by then some irreparable damage can be done with words that hurt. But what happened Friday morning made me realize that all the events leading up to Friday were absolutely nothing in the -grand scheme of things. Tony died Friday; he was 46 years old. It's hard to type in past tense when describing Tony, so I may slip up. Tony, Sandi & their two boys lived by Katey & Andy on Marquette and they quickly became a part of our family. When we had get-togethers, they were there. Sandi & Katey share a birthday so there were great parties. Tony razzed me unmercifully because I was a Rusty Wallace fan (NASCAR). I gave him grief because he was a Dale Earnhart fan. But we laughed and grinned all the while. When Katey & Andy moved, we didn't see them as much, but there is still a connection that bonds people for life that time, distance and absence can't break. So my heart hurts. It hurst for the 2 teenaged boys, other of Tony's family members, his friends and church family, Andy, Katey & others who loved him like a brother, and for myself who thought of him as another adopted son. Tony, I'll miss you, but I know you're keeping everyone laughing in heaven. Have you seen Earnhart yet? Y'all will have a ringside seat for Talladega, so enjoy the race and we'll see you someday! Love you, son!

Our Molly

Easter Sunday, April 11, 1977, was High Attendance Day at our church. Druther David told me that being due to deliver a baby at any moment was no excuse for missing church; he'd have an ambulance waiting outside at noon on Sunday just in case I went into labor. The best laid plans... Molly had other plans and those included being born on Good Friday! Wanda, Druther David's wife, came to visit while I was in labor. I don't remember this, but she told me later that I looked at her with tears in my eyes and said, "I'm going to miss High Attendance Day." Dr. Bourland was there at the beginning, but he went off duty and when Dr. Sanders came on my mama said, "Surely that young boy isn't going to deliver my grandbaby!" Dr. John asked Dr. Brouland if he should give me an epidural (sp?) and Dr. Bourland said, "Son, you won't have time; you'd better get in there right now." (I'm one of those blessed women for whom 4 hours of labor was a long time.) I don't remember much else except that I was in a semi-private room with a woman who smoked. (Shouldn't they have already known that smoking is bad for everyone, especially newborns.) Maybe this is the reason Molly was plagued by allergies the first 3 years of her life. The allergies were bad enough that Dr. Hilbun sent us to LeBonheur for allergy tests and Molly had shots for several times a week for a few years. It always surprised Nurse Delores that an 18 month old toddler would want to give her hugs and kisses right after she had given that same toddler an allergy shot. All grown up now, Molly teaches 6th grade math and scored 5th out of 54 sixth grade teachers in her county in a composit teachers' evaluation in her county. She would tell you that she doesn't know if she has any impact on her students. (6th graders = raging hormones) But her 6th grade principal and her Middle School principal would tell you differently. The kids learn more than math from her and all those other values stick, too. She'll be here in a little while and we'll go to breakfast and spend a little time together on this, her 34th birthday. Happy Birthday, Molly! Blessings all day long!!

They'll Always Be Your Babies

Are you a young mother? Were you ever a young mother? Then you know that feeling of wishing you were sick yourself if it meant your child could be well. You know that feeling of wanting to take the shot or the finger-stick or the bllod-drawing yourself rather than have your baby go through that. Let me tell you - they're always your baby. It doesn't matter if they're 3 or 33, you'll always feel that way. Molly (she'll be 34 in a week) had a medical crisis yesterday. Kevin said when Molly got up yesterday, he heard a muffled scream then a crash. He found her on the floor of the toilet room in the middle of a grand mal seizure. He body was in rigor, eyes fixed, small tremors and drooling. He moved her to the middle of the bathroom, arranged towels around her head, made sure she was breathing and grabbed his phone to call 911. She was unresponsive until the EMTs started moving her to the ambulance. I learned many of the details later, but this is not something a mom wants to hear. After many phone calls Laurie & I were going to the hospital. Katey was going to take me to meet Laurie, but decided she would go, too. I called Mama & she wanted to go, also. Meanwhile, Kevin called back and said the ER doctor had gotten to her quickly and into a CT scan. As soon as they finished the CT, she had another seizure. Having refused anti-seizure meds initially, Kevin gave permission for them to administer by IV. (He had refused until Molly saw a neurologist b/c he didn't want them treating what they didn't know.) But he knew after the 2nd one that they needed to prevent it happening again in such short order. Yesterday they did the CT scan, EEG & MRI and she saw the hospitalist. I was very impressed with her - a no-nonsense doctor who said emphatically, "We want to find out what happened to you and why it happened." She came back in today and is ordering physical therapy for the soreness in Molly's neck, shoulders, back and legs. This is probably due to the fall and being in rigor for about 10 minutes 2 separate times. The neuro- nurse came in and asked a lot of questions and said the neurologist would be there in a few hours. Both the doctor & nurse implied she would be in hospital again tonight for observation. Oh, I forgot to mention her heart rate went to 180 for several minutes, so she's on a heart monitor. We are so grateful for prayer warrior friends, prayer warrior church staffs (Southwoods, Belden, Parkway & others) and prayer warrior family members. What a blessing to know Molly's name was so constantly going up to the Great Physician!! We are also grateful for compassionate, skilled medical professionals who continue to take care of her. I'm grateful for a dear friend who lives in Molly's area and has made herself available to help in any way they need. Is it not an amazing thing to see, hear and feel God's people being God's people in times of need !! So as I said, this is scary stuff for a mom whose baby isn't feeling well. It doesn't matter that she's almost 34 years old. She'll always be my baby, as will her 38yo sister and her 36yo sister.