Mary Angel

(May, 2013) It is May already and I can’t believe it. I have been contemplating a topic of Mother’s Day for my article this month, but with life so busy I haven’t been able to figure out what that meant to me. Today I realized that this busy month was what being a mom was all about.

Last month ended and this month began with a bang. I was running errands, trying to get ready to grab the kids and head out of town after school. I had packed too much into my day (as per usual). We were going to visit my parents in Delaware for the kids Easter breaks and I decided I need to drop off my ring to the jewelers in Hampstead, get new tires put on the car, go to the grocery store, take the girls to the doctor and pack the car before school was out. I should have realized when the girls got sick on the way to school that the day was not going to go as I had planned.

When they were feeling bad as we pulled up to school (for different reasons) I immediately called the doctor and got appointments for both of them at lunch time. In the mean time I explained to them that they had to come with me for my errands which they understood completely. So we went to Westminster to the mechanic to get new tires put on the car. They knew we had a lot going on that day and they were very prompt and helpful, but it still takes an hour and a half minimum to do the paper work and put the tires on. After that we jumped in the car, pausing only for a moment to take note of how much quieter the ride was. In a flash we were on our way to Hampstead to drop off the ring and get back to Taneytown to make their doctors’ appointments. Again, I should have realized the day was only going to go downhill.

Half way to Hampstead my phone rang and l pressed my earpiece to activate it and I instantly heard my mom on the other end asking me where I was. Thinking she was checking to see if we had left early to surprise them, I confidently answered, “we didn’t leave early, and the boys are still in school”. However, when she asked me to pull over I was pretty sure it wasn’t to give me any good news. After I convinced her I was on a road that had no opportunity to “pull over” she continued her story. Apparently my Dad had been with my uncle early in the morning and had a heart attack…WHAT!!! She then went into detail, he had a heart attack and my uncle called 911 and did CPR until the paramedics arrived. When the paramedics arrived they had a hard time stabilizing him, he was in surgery now and had 100 percent blockage of the artery they call the “widow maker”. She asked me not to tell the kids yet and to please call and tell my brother.

I truly was in shock. I couldn’t let on to my girls how upset I was, but I just started crying while I was driving. I quickly got control of myself and from my perspective kept it together outwardly quite well. After we dropped off the ring, mainly because I couldn’t think of a quick excuse not to since we were almost there, we headed to the doctor’s office. Those appointments were actually a double blessing. First because I found out one girl had a raging ear infection and the other’s eye, although it looked terrible, it wasn’t damaged. Secondly I was able to covertly ask the pediatrician some questions about my Dad and his surgery.

The next day my mom gave my brother and I the go ahead to come down and we arrived right before they were getting ready to remove all of the tubes and see if he could breathe on his own and determine if there was brain damage. We saw him and they asked us to leave the room two minutes later. When we returned to the room he looked like my Dad again and snored like him as well. He would wake up and talk to us sporadically, but he doesn’t remember any of that. Not even telling my brother to lose weight (every time he woke up). When he was well enough to switch rooms my brother and I came home. Two days after he came home, he was back in the hospital with pneumonia and internal bleeding. He is now home again and feeling much better, but what a roller coaster ride.

In addition to all of this with my Dad I still had all of the day to day stuff here with my family. Chorus practice, dance class, school, homework, housework, yard work, church, bible study, errands, car repairs, clogged toilets, doctor appointments, stomach bugs, and a groin pull in a pear tree! With all of this I kept thinking how much I would miss my Dad, but more important to me was how much my kids would be affected by my Dad passing. I could never stand the thought of my Dad not being here, but the older I get the more that becomes a reality that I know will happen one day. That being said, I don’t want that to be a reality my kids have to remember from their childhood. They have already lost their Granddad; they do not need to lose their Poppop too. I guess you could say my Dad’s heart attack put motherhood into perspective for me. All the little chores that sometimes wear me down on any given day are the joys of motherhood that I will never get back, and should cherish every day. All that’s left to say is count your blessing and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms who embrace those crazy days of motherhood!
 

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