One Year Ago Today . . . My Life Began to Change

One year ago today, I spent the morning boxing up my office to prepare it for summer, wrapping up 18 years in public education. I grabbed a drink on the way to my summer school meeting, attended the meeting, and dropped off a big box of books & supplies I planned to use the next two weeks. I then went home to check-on Mom. She hadn't been feeling well after starting her fight against cancer again. She wasn't worried about how she was feeling, but when I got home, I overroad her wants and took her to Presbyterian Rockwall. She still insisted she was fine and didn't need a fuss. While we waited in the ER, we joked around & challenged each other to see who could read the smallest letters/row on the eye chart. Neither of us was too worried. She had handled so much in years past, so this was just one more experience. The Drs ran test and finally decided they needed to send her to Presbyterian Dallas b/c it is larger and has more resources. B/c it was evening rush hour, they decided to send her via CareFlight. 

Once I arrived in Dallas, I began working on finding a sub for my summer school class. Thanks a ton, Denel Comley, for agreeing to sub for two days before your vacation. 

Once I got to see Mom and they got her settled in ICU, she still insisted she was fine. We joked about how unfair it was she got to ride in a helicopter. We have had a lot of shared experiences, but this was one she had without me.

She was doing fine. She was tired, but she had her wits about her, knew what was going on, and was getting the medical help she needed.

The following morning, she wanted to know why I wasn't teaching summer school. She hated when people changed their plans for her. She wasn't too happy when I told her I chose to be by her side rather than summer school. 

Even though we had no answers and had no idea the outcome was going to be what it was, later in the day, without her knowing, I worked out a plan with the two ladies on the summer school sub list to cover the rest of my summer school duties. I'm so grateful they could step in and work it out. I appreciate our summer school administrator, Lisa Perry's, understanding and flexibility.

The next few days moved quickly, yet slowly. I still did not believe they would end as they did.