The story starts yesterday. My parents were going to come up for the choir concert that I was in last night. Our portion of the concert, as there was other groups performing, consisted of three new songs that we had not yet performed to this date. The were on there way out of town and on the phone with me when my dad decided that he didn't like the conditions that the roads were in: wet. It was 33 degrees outside and the second it dropped one they would freeze in an instant. This is unlike his usual attitude of "Eh. It'll be fine." The roads, by the way, ended up being fine on the way here according to other people that I know that drove up. Regardless... My parents apologized for changing their minds which of course if understood (and it turned out to be a good thing that they did). Instead they ended up eating brunch with my grandparents. My grandparents were not aware that my parents were coming but we often meet up with them on Sundays after church, announced or otherwise. It's sort of an open standing invitation.
And here's where, as much as I would have liked my parents to come to see the concert, I was glad that they stayed back. They got off the phone with me as they were sitting down to order their food. No sooner had the food come than my grandpa's speech began to slur, something he didn't think was happening to him. Fast forward through the meal and some minor embarrassing details and stop at the Veterans Hospital where they discovered that a particular sac that we have at the front of our brains that is normally unobtrusive was putting pressure on the front of his brain, specifically, the lobe that controls speech and motor functions. Needless to say my grandmother was glad that my dad had been there. Either that was a very fortunate coincidence or it was a God thing. And as I like to say: I don't believe in coincidences.
They were going to send him down to Milwaukee but that wouldn't have been until today. Flying him to Madison was another option, but was voted down for reasons I can't remember. And so now the only place that could do tests on him the soonest and was the nearest via convenient travel was Marquette Hospital. He's up and talking now but they're keeping him there for observation. I plan to call him if not go see him tomorrow.
I think maybe I remember where I was going with my initial question. Except instead of things, replace with people. Why don't we appreciate the people we have. So much of the time, we are trying to meet new people, interesting people, important people, people with stories to tell. Granted that's not a bad thing, but half the time, those people that we're spending so much time looking for, like say a seasoned war veteran that has novels' worth of stories to tell about himself, his father and countless others, someone like my Grandpa, are right under our noses...and we need to look, be thankful and appreciate them before it's too late.
Goodnight and happy early Thanksgiving,
Your's In Writing
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