(no subject)
So I guess I just need to write about this to get out some thoughts. First off, the good news - mom came home yesterday after being gone to NC for 5 weeks! it's so great to have her back. Now, the bad news and what's been on my mind all the time since Friday. First, some background...
My parents have these great friends. There are 4 or 5 couples and they always spend holidays and birthdays together, since I left for college at least. They're all pretty much empty nesters. They are really nice people and they all care about each other very much even though they're so different. All these couples were so nice and supportive of my parents and me before, during, and after the wedding, and I feel like they are all aunts and uncles to me...at least more so than any of my real relatives. I went to high school with all of their kids, but none of us were really close during that time. One lady, Marge, got me a job last summer with the city of Germantown because she is really high up in the chain of command for the government...I worked with her son Matt, who is a genuinely nice, can't-tell-he's-an-only-child kinda guy (which is saying a lot for people who grow up in G'town). Matt's real father committed suicide when Matt was 5 (15 years ago). Despite all of this, Marge is one of the most kind-hearted and funny women I know....imagine my dad (if you know him) in a female form and that's Marge. She and another friend, Pat, threw me a bridal shower before I got married. OK, now fastforward to the present. Marge's current (4th) husband Jerry found out about 2 weeks ago that he has colon cancer. He went in for surgery to remove 12 inches of cancerous colon on last Monday and has been in the hospital ever since. Then they found more cancerous spots on his liver, so they're going to clear up whatever they can, but he seems to be doing really well. Still has a great sense of humor through it all, and he's up and walking around all the time now. On Friday, Marge's dog started having seizures, so she went across the street and asked her neighbor to help her take the dog to the vet (by the way, she just happens to live across the street from G'town's mayor, Sharon; her husband is the one who went to the vet with Marge). They left the dog at the vet to be treated, and on the way home Marge started feeling sick, and she told Jim to pull over. She threw up on the side of the road, and Jim took her home to let her lie down. They walked in the door, and Marge collapsed and was unconscious. She never regained consciousness. The EMTs took her to the hospital, coincidentally where her husband was staying, then she was air lifted to a hospital downtown. She had a massive stroke and is never going to wake up. She still has some brain activity, so they are not able to shut off her life support, but the doctor's are absolutely sure that she will never wake up. Jerry gave them the "do not resucitate" order, and has said his goodbyes already. So now, they're waiting for her heart or lungs to fail and for her body to finally let go.
I just can't stop thinking about it. She started feeling sick just 15 minutes before it happened. Who can explain that? She was only 52 or 53 years old, just slightly older than my mom. She had no prescriptions that she was on, no health problems that had been diagnosed. So someone from the city government was sent to Vanderbilt to pick Matt up from school and bring him home. He rode in the car for 3 hours waiting to see his mom, knowing that she wouldn't wake up. His father's been gone, his mother will be gone shortly, and his father-in-law whom he loves dearly may be fighting cancer for the rest of his life. Marge was one of those people you rarely see, but you are still so thankful to have her in your life. Even moreso, I was glad for her to be in my mom's life. She made every situation better, she always saw the bright side with her wonderful sarcasm. And now she'll never open her eyes and be able to laugh again. Life just isn't fair to any of us.
So anyway, if I can't make it to Evansville this week, it'll be because I'm at a funeral. If you believe in praying, pray for Matt. He's 21 and has lost both his parents. He was at my wedding, you might have even seen him there...drinking a beer underage because I told him he could. He was always smiling, and I just hope someday he'll be able to smile again.
My parents have these great friends. There are 4 or 5 couples and they always spend holidays and birthdays together, since I left for college at least. They're all pretty much empty nesters. They are really nice people and they all care about each other very much even though they're so different. All these couples were so nice and supportive of my parents and me before, during, and after the wedding, and I feel like they are all aunts and uncles to me...at least more so than any of my real relatives. I went to high school with all of their kids, but none of us were really close during that time. One lady, Marge, got me a job last summer with the city of Germantown because she is really high up in the chain of command for the government...I worked with her son Matt, who is a genuinely nice, can't-tell-he's-an-only-child kinda guy (which is saying a lot for people who grow up in G'town). Matt's real father committed suicide when Matt was 5 (15 years ago). Despite all of this, Marge is one of the most kind-hearted and funny women I know....imagine my dad (if you know him) in a female form and that's Marge. She and another friend, Pat, threw me a bridal shower before I got married. OK, now fastforward to the present. Marge's current (4th) husband Jerry found out about 2 weeks ago that he has colon cancer. He went in for surgery to remove 12 inches of cancerous colon on last Monday and has been in the hospital ever since. Then they found more cancerous spots on his liver, so they're going to clear up whatever they can, but he seems to be doing really well. Still has a great sense of humor through it all, and he's up and walking around all the time now. On Friday, Marge's dog started having seizures, so she went across the street and asked her neighbor to help her take the dog to the vet (by the way, she just happens to live across the street from G'town's mayor, Sharon; her husband is the one who went to the vet with Marge). They left the dog at the vet to be treated, and on the way home Marge started feeling sick, and she told Jim to pull over. She threw up on the side of the road, and Jim took her home to let her lie down. They walked in the door, and Marge collapsed and was unconscious. She never regained consciousness. The EMTs took her to the hospital, coincidentally where her husband was staying, then she was air lifted to a hospital downtown. She had a massive stroke and is never going to wake up. She still has some brain activity, so they are not able to shut off her life support, but the doctor's are absolutely sure that she will never wake up. Jerry gave them the "do not resucitate" order, and has said his goodbyes already. So now, they're waiting for her heart or lungs to fail and for her body to finally let go.
I just can't stop thinking about it. She started feeling sick just 15 minutes before it happened. Who can explain that? She was only 52 or 53 years old, just slightly older than my mom. She had no prescriptions that she was on, no health problems that had been diagnosed. So someone from the city government was sent to Vanderbilt to pick Matt up from school and bring him home. He rode in the car for 3 hours waiting to see his mom, knowing that she wouldn't wake up. His father's been gone, his mother will be gone shortly, and his father-in-law whom he loves dearly may be fighting cancer for the rest of his life. Marge was one of those people you rarely see, but you are still so thankful to have her in your life. Even moreso, I was glad for her to be in my mom's life. She made every situation better, she always saw the bright side with her wonderful sarcasm. And now she'll never open her eyes and be able to laugh again. Life just isn't fair to any of us.
So anyway, if I can't make it to Evansville this week, it'll be because I'm at a funeral. If you believe in praying, pray for Matt. He's 21 and has lost both his parents. He was at my wedding, you might have even seen him there...drinking a beer underage because I told him he could. He was always smiling, and I just hope someday he'll be able to smile again.