Birthday Surprises

Last Thursday was my birthday.  There wasn’t a lot of celebrating that went on, in fact there were a couple of times during the day that I had to remind myself that it was still my birthday.

Around 1:00 the day before, I looked at my phone and noticed that my mother, who spends winters in Arizona, had called.  Most of the time I do not carry my phone with me at work, and when I do, I keep it muted.  She had called about a half hour before. 

It is unusual for her to call me during the day, so I did decide to give her a quick call back.  When she answered I could tell she was not well.  Her voice was shaky and she had great difficulty finding words to express herself.  My mother is a stroke survivor, so this is of grave concern.  I told her I would call her when I got home.

 I then contacted her neighbor and asked him to check on her.  I called my sister, and she called him as well.  He and another neighbor, who is a nurse, examined Mom and decided to call an ambulance.  Mom spent that night in the emergency room and was admitted to the hospital around 3:30 the next morning, which happens to be my birthday.

It is extraordinarily difficult to be so far away when someone you love is seriously ill.  Her wonderful neighbors have been visiting her, taking care of her dog, and so much more.  I am incredibly grateful for them.

My sister, immediately made plans to fly to Arizona to be with Mom, and then drive her back to Iowa when she is well enough.  Jacci has been calling and talking to Mom’s nurse and case worker so we have accurate information.  I am blessed to have such a wonderful sister. She is a doer, and when she sees a problem, she kicks into action.  She was supposed to fly out at 2:30 on Friday.

We ran into a snag yesterday when a major snow storm moved in.  We kept checking the airline and the flight was still on.  I got in my car and drove all the way across town in this developing blizzard, to pick Jacci up to take her to the airport.  As I approached her exit, the airline notified her that the flight was cancelled.  I turned around and drove all the way back home so I could be snowed in at my own home with my dogs.

My wonderful birthday gift is that Mom is doing much better now and is being released from the hospital later today. Jacci will be flying out tomorrow, and we should have a much better experience getting her to the airport.

So, it was a very interesting birthday.   

I am so grateful for:

1.   My mother’s wonderful caring neighbors. Two years ago, we had another incident when I called Mom and she was having problems.  Her neighbor, Bob, went over and got her help that time too.
2. My awesome sister who has made it possible for Mom to go to Arizona all these years and who is once again, shutting down her business for the week to go be with Mom and drive her home. She also actively communicates with people to get the most accurate information we can.
3.  I am also grateful for Mom’s guardian angel.  I am absolutely convinced she has one.  Four times in my life, someone or something has told me to call her or go see her, and it has turned into a life saving moment.  I’ll write about that in another post.

Winter has definitely arrived here in Iowa.  Mom hasn’t been up here during the winter in many years. I'm sure that will be a challenge for her, but I will be so grateful to have her here where we can be sure that she gets the things she needs. 

Life is full of surprises, and some extraordinary gifts.