After Tanglewood, Janet and I discussed the possibility of flying to Kansas City over Labor Day but decided against it because school was starting and it seemed expensive. That all changed when my brother called and reported my mother had been admitted to the hospital after a routine appointment to have a melanoma spot removed. Dropping everything we booked a Friday night flight and began our whirlwind of September surprises.

While I went to the hospital, Janet took the opportunity to go apple picking with our beautiful granddaughters. By all accounts, they had a marvelous time filling their baskets and being with their grammy!

Though a lot of our questions have gone unanswered, mother is on the mend after a couple of blood transfusions and a compression band to slow the internal bleeding she was experiencing. She’s been seen for many years for a latent blood cancer that may be the culprit. The hospital hasn’t been able to connect with her oncologist so it’s kind of hard to know what’s happening. Janet and I need to get back to work though and it looks like she’ll be going home soon. Before saying goodbye to the kids, we took them to their favorite restaurant, Culver’s. I was told by our youngest that I was to sit by her. There were no complaints from papa.

Janet and I made one final visit to the hospital before our flight home. We also took the opportunity to have some real Kansas City Barbecue before traveling back to New Hampshire. I wish you could smell and taste this beautiful table of food!!

Back in the summer, I’d planned a mid-September trip to Ft. Lauderdale as a “metreat.” While Janet gets the summer off to herself, I rarely get time for just me as my job is year round. I decided to visit some friends in Ft. Lauderdale and enjoy the sunshine. I don’t do that very often, but once in awhile.

My time there was relaxing and fun. On my last night, my brother once again called and reported my mother was being transported to the emergency room after contracting a urinary tract infection. I changed my homeward flight from Boston and took the detour to Kansas City. By the time I arrived, mother had been checked into the ICU. The nurses like to keep it cold, and mother didn’t mind as she was really hot. I’d come from Florida though and it was freezing, so I bought a Ted Lasso running suit. Questions abounded as we wondered why this second trip so soon after the first. Answers came from a new doctor and his assistant telling us about MDS, a blood cancer that reduces the amount of red blood cells produced in the bone marrow. This resulted in a lower immune system and more vulnerability to infection. Though difficult to hear we finally had some answers. We decided that it would probably be better to move her from independent living to assisted living to receive regular infusions of medication. I stayed with her all day on Sunday and we watched the Apache helicopters prepare for their fly over Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs game.

With a plan in place, I made arrangements to go back home the next day. Before leaving, though I got to see the kids one more time. A blessed silver lining from a tumultuous weekend.