I'm back

from the movie theatre (saw "Thumbsucker) and I am listening to Burning Spear. I am resetting myself, as my week was a little hectic. Going to a movie helps to clear my head and gets me to think about someone other than myself.

The Friday before the one that was two days ago, I got a call from my dad informing me that my mom's retina had detached. My dad doesn’t like it when bad things happen. He under-reacts to things and the thought-you-may-want-to-know tone of his message seemed to be in great contrast to the information he was delivering. A retinal detachment is a pretty serious thing. So I called Mom.

She was, understandably, a little worried and emotional--crying in her silent, sweet way. Yet she was pretty calm and accepting. The problem was my dad was in Tampa, my brother and his wife were in Chicago, and Philip and I were in Boston. My brother's kids were with my mom because Jake and Miranda (brother and sister-in-law) were moving to Chicago and needed to be there looking for a new apartment. So she was kind of alone.

As you know, my parents live in Iowa, but we are not from Iowa. She knows a lot of nice people there, but there is only one distant blood relative in the state and no sisters or children and no Ruth Holmes. Ruth is our old around-the-corner neighbor and she’s your basic cookie-in-the-oven-giving-church-lady. She is someone safe that you can rely on in this kind of situation and you won't feel like you are putting her out. We have a lot of Ruth Holmes in Oregon, but my mom was kind of alone in Iowa. She got some help with the boys from her neighbor and my dad’s cousin twice removed, who is a freshman at Grinnell.

So on the Friday before the one that was two days ago, Jake, Miranda, Dad, and I all did our best to get home. Jake arrived at 4 AM on Saturday morning and slept for a couple of hours and then got up and took my mom to the doctor in Des Moines. Dad and I arrived at 11:15AM and learned that Mom needed surgery right away and all four of us headed to the hospital.

To Be Continued...