It's Sunday Morning

I love my Sunday morning rituals:  feed the "kids", finish up the week's laundry, watch the local news and fix a special Sunday breakfast, this morning was blueberry pancakes with fresh blueberries, and then enjoy breakfast while watching Charles Osgood in his bow tie.  My favorite segment is the moment of nature, or as I like to call it, "the quiet minute", even though it lasts between 15 and 30 seconds.  Today the moment was at least 30 seconds, it was California's sand dunes.  Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful, but honestly 30 seconds for sand dunes and 15 seconds in a swamp filled with the Ghost Orchid? 


So Larry did not make it in to Tallahassee Friday night.  They could not get any planes into Charlotte to fly them out.  So to US Airways credit, they did find Larry at the Airport and put him in a wheelchair, had him checked out by the EMT who then felt obligated to call me.  So I explained that he had brain cancer, and that I had lung cancer, and that I could not fly so that is why he was being flown alone here.  I explained to them that we had made arrangements with US Air to meet him at the plane in Charlotte and get him to his next flight.  


There was no other flight Saturday night.  And US Airways did make sure that he got to a hotel  and back, on their dime and got him on a plane.  I had asked him to call me when he got up in the morning so I would know that he was getting back to the airport, no call.  I had also asked him to call me with the flight arrival times and flight number so I could be at the airport and he would not wait, no call.  So a little after 11 he does call and tells me he is walking down the aisle.  I said, oh good you are getting on a plane?  He said, no, he was in Tallahassee.  OK then.  I race to get out of the door and drive to the airport without taking a chance on a ticket and as I pull into the hourly parking area I look up at the terminal.  Oh no, there is an ambulance and a fire truck with their flashing lights.  I run through the parking lot, up the stairs, across the drive and into the terminal arms waving, yelling out, "I am here!  He's with me!"  And as I ran in screaming like a banshee 12 men I have never seen before turn to face me.  There are fireman, EMTs, TSA and Tallahassee Police all staring at me.  Their eyes go immediately to my head, I have on my Bokeelia baseball cap.  I take it off, showing my still growing in hair.  And sitting there amongst all these men is my EX husband looking every bit like a Buddha or a serial killer.  The steroids have made him puffy, the inactivity and excess food at the nursing home has put 50 pounds on him.  He has for some unknown reason shaved all the hair on his head and face.  He looks a lot like the killed in Arizona.  His shirt is not buttoned correctly, his clothes could use a good wash after 2 days of travel, he is blurring and confused trying to explain to the men standing around him that his wife is coming to pick him up to take him to Bokeelia.  Of course, none of these 12 angry men have ever heard of Bokeelia and they are still not convinced that they are not dealing with someone on serious drugs.  Well, OK, he is, but that is not the kind of drugs they are assuming.  They had noticeably relaxed when I got there, but I figured that was because a sane person had just walked into a very confusing situation.  I realized after Larry points to me and says, "See, she is here to take me to Bokeelia." That I realize that the baseball cap was what calmed them down.  Running into another person with cancer is not what they had started work that morning anticipating.  And isn't funny that I should wear that baseball cap of all my caps that morning.  


So after I signed off on the paperwork with the men in charge I put Larry in my brand new car and drove him home.  Well first we stopped at KFC, that man does love fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  I bought a bucket, but he needed to sit down and eat some before we took another step.  


We got home and he was so happy to see the dogs and cats.  I set up a plan to get him all his pills close to the schedule that they had sent me.  And then as I watched him rapidly decline because of the trip, I called Richard and Colleen and asked if they could pick him up next weekend.  That, and I can't believe still that I said this, he needed to stay in one place and get back on his meds and eat and rest before the confusion of moving the trailer south and getting him settled there.  sigh, I will have him for the week.  So far I can not complain, things are going fine.  He is complimentary and is trying hard to be nice and pull his weight by helping with the dishes.  My biggest complaint is I don't like having someone in my house.  I like my privacy, my alone


Oh great, he just told me that he had come with 2 suitcases.  When I picked him up at the airport he had a suitcase with him and with all of the confusion, I never thought to ask him if he had any other suitcases.  So I guess tomorrow on my way home from work I will go to the airport and pick up his other suitcase.  


And today I will go to the grocery and to rehearsal for Steele.  Tonight I will make some Super Bowl food and we will watch it.  Well, I will watch some of it, I won't make it until the end of the game.  Unless it is a great game.    


But right now I am going to make lunch.  The weather is crisp and coldish, but bright and sunny with an endless blue sky.  I should be out in my garden but I am a little worn and stressed out.  I think I will knit and cook and look forward to the bowl tonight.    Life is always interesting here.  I feel fine other then tired and stressed out.  No bloody noses in the last several days.  That helps me mentally  deal with things.  I still feel lucky, I don't look like I have cancer, I am at a good weight, even if I feel fat.  No symptoms of the disease and since I have not had any chemo in 3+ weeks, no real side effects, and the antibiotics might be helping with the sinus infection, it is hard to tell, but I am sure that it.  Sunday morning.  Beautiful weather and the super bowl tonight, not a bad way to start the new week.