Riding the Roller Coaster

I don't do rides. I don't go to theme parks. The only things that move that I get on or in are automobiles, canoes and air planes. One of the routes I take to TheCity takes me past Kings Dominion and from the highway you can see the roller coasters - often in operation, with the little train of cars doing loop-the-loops and making their precipitous drops. Ugh. No thanks. Life will give me enough roller coaster rides - I don't need to seek those kinds of thrills.

And that's just what life is giving me, and my sisters and niece and nephew. Daddy is seriously ill, on top of being seriously old and seriously infirm, in the hospital in Richmond. The doctor told my sister he wouldn't be going home and I don't think they say stuff like that lightly. Last weekend he was in ICU with more plugs and ports than an Internet Server. Tuesday LD had a lively 2 hour visit with him in his regular hospital room. Friday he began to fail. Saturday he looked like the end was on us. Yesterday he was a little better.

The far-away sisters will be in Richmond by this afternoon, if only for brief visits. The custodial daughter and I made more grim arrangements yesterday, though the experience was calm and friendly. She and I make an awesome team. It is much easier to pick out flowers and prayer cards when you are not weeping. The reward was a visit to Daddy where he could talk a little and laugh at funny stories we told him. A quiet laugh from behind an oxygen mask, but laughter just the same and that always lightens the heart.

Today I may just choose to step off that roller coaster and stay home. I know I'll be back on the road again at least once this week - because sister and I have a final appointment to keep. And I will want to visit Daddy again. It may be that leaving him to enjoy special alone time with the other sisters would be the right choice. Or it could be that I am a shirker. At this point I don't know and haven't decided.



Right now I'm just hangin' in there.