on seeing fall

My mother and I both loved fall and we shared the gift of being able to "see" it long before it actually arrives.  It's all in the difference of shadows as the sun shifts.  We would call each other yearly when we first spotted it which is usually late July.  I guess I've been so busy that I just saw it in passing and went on my way.  

It's been a marathon for me during the past few weeks.  Lauren had nobody to keep Reaves during her 3-11 shift last night so I spent the night with them.  We picked her up from daycare where she had JUST gone to sleep and she wouldn't resume when we got home so it was one hella' afternoon.  She wailed in despair as Lauren left for work and continued to be just downright unhappy which is unusual for her.  She was tired, sick, teething and missed her Mama.  She kept calling out for her way after she was gone which broke my heart.  

I made a chicken pot pie while she played and after a bath she was in bed by 6:30.  She woke up once and went right back out.  We expected her to be up at the butt crack of dawn but she slept through until 7 and so did we.  What a blessing.  We chilled a bit this morning and had cinnamon rolls while Lauren was going through a huge load of hand me downs for fall and winter.  Now Reaves' stuff will be passed onto Clara.  I love it when that happens.  She is beginning to potty train and tugged at her pullup letting me know it was time.  I sat on the side of the tub as she made a couple of plops and we waved bye bye to the poo.  Good stuff.

Speaking of which...my friend Mamye had some heart testing done yesterday and all is well.  Meds will be changed and lifestyles altered for a couple of days.  She was so scared.  She was in Jackson a long time before me yesterday.  You know how that goes.  Non critical cases get bumped by emergencies.  And there are plenty in a cardiac lab.  Hell, at the hospital in general.  

My father died four years ago from an infected 25 year old hernia repair where the mesh was left in.  That was common practice at that time.  It wasn't until he had an emergent new hernia on the opposite side that he called 911 himself!  He got morphine and it popped back in.  When he arrived in surgery for repair of the new lesion something looked suspicious.  The result was the biggest baddest case of infection ever caused by mesh, extending to the testicle.  There were three specimens obtained, including my daddy's right nut.  Talk about strange.

He made it through the procedure okay and was bitching about stuff when the nurse and surgeon came in to check the wound.  There was feces meaning that the colon had been ruptured by that gross rolled up wad of mesh.  Back to surgery to avoid peritonitis.  This was three anesthesia related events in a month for an 82 year old man.  He developed atelectasis and was in intensive care for a week.  

Several of my colleagues told me it was over and I should just let him die.  I respect those friends who gave me wise advice.  You never know until you're in the middle of something who your friends are.  Or who's for the patient and not corporate.  I would like to name personally Dr. Ategbole and John Lanier.  Plus Joseph McWhirt and James Caylor.  Mary Beth Peel.  Whomever picked Daddy up off the floor after surgery when he snuck out of bed.  Love y'all like chicken.

It's like my Mama told me : " Your daddy wasn't raised in a loving environment."  There were no truer words.  Here's to you Daddy.  I will pick some nekkid ladies tomorrow in your honor and have communion.

^j^