WAYNE’S WORDS
Volume 5 Number 05
Mid-Mo
OK. So I officially missed a May installment of this blog. So, sue me. I guess I will just have to do two this month. Yikes! That seems like a lot of work.
I guess May’s edition did not happen because I was actually having fun. Yes, you heard me: I was having fun.
- I treated Hillbilly Mom to what seems to have been a good Mother’s Day.
- Hillbilly Mom went on a 10 day trip to Mount Rushmore. (That was fun for me, because she was having fun.)
- I got to spend an awesome 3 day weekend with the most wonderful woman ever!
- I went out on a couple of Search & Rescue Trainings and at least one dramatic and successful SAR Mission.
- I was invited to spend time with old friends in El Paso and enjoyed good company, food and beverage.
All in all it was a good month. Finally, it was a break from the, seemingly endless, consecutive months of bad news. Then June hit. Ugh.
June started with a call concerning my Paternal Grandma. She’d had a stroke. It wasn’t looking good. As the hours went by, I decided (with the encouragement of my girlfriend) that I had better get up there. Flying was out of the financial question. It would have been more than $1,000 when all was said and done (including rental car and gas and such).
So, Thursday afternoon I dropped my paperwork on my desk; stopped by mi casa; packed a bag; and hit the highway. After driving the rest of the day and through the night, arguing with my GPS, dealing with some strange liquid falling from the sky (someone said it was called rain) and fighting off the chokehold of fatigue, I arrived in Mid-Missouri.
I am still not totally positive that Grandma knew I was there. It seemed like she did, but I am not sure how much memory she will retain. I hope she remembers. It was very good to see the family again - especially Dad. It is funny. All of those people look exactly the same to me as they have my entire life. Even Grandma in her hospital bed just looked like Grandma to me.
Dad and I were able to spend some good time together. We would stop by the hospital and spend time with Grandma and then do errands that had been put on hold, pick up an Aunt that needed a ride from Booneville, go back to the house and get Granddad to cart him over to see Grandma, etc. It was nice to get to hang with Dad – even though the circumstances were not the best.
These things often become family reunion-ish and I was able to see quite a few of my Aunts and Uncles. We actually spent more time laughing than we did crying. Funny things were said, silly stories about Grandma and Granddad were told, etc. I even forgot how silly Missouri is when it comes to signs and names of things: Kum & Go (a convenience store), Dick’s Liquors, Hookers Restaurant, The Testicle Festival (an actual event), etc.
I left early Sunday and headed back to the great Southwest and, after maneuvering through many detours (some by the highway department – some my own ;), I made it home and got back to my office about the same time of day I had left four days earlier. I think I drove close to 40 hours in those 4 days – that’s like a whole work week.
After a couple days of rest I received word that a close “friend” of mine is making some horrible life decisions and seems to be going down the wrong path. Oy Vey! Will it never stop? I will do my best to advise and help that “friend,” but so much is dependent upon the decision to live a great life and to do great things… that is something I can only suggest and hope that my “friend” makes the appropriate changes.
I hope so.
Until Next Time,
Wayne
