Don't forget to say "I love you"

Perspective is the most beautiful thing.

Tuesday night during the last night of the Cadre my sister called to tell me that my dad was in the hospital. Earlier that day, I was told he was found outside trying to open the front door with his car keys, then starring into the microwave and talking to it (don't worry you can laugh a little at that one, it's much more fun than crying). Anyway, in a matter of hours he was in a catatonic non-responsive state. He's been that way for the last 36 hours. They've run all sorts of test (EEG, EKG, spinal tap and now a full MRI) and have ruled out a lot of stuff, but haven't figured out the cause.

When the Cadre was going on my head was spinning so fast with it, that his hospitalization really didn't fully hit me. Today, it did. The thoughts that race through your head, the tears that randomly well up in your eyes, the contemplation of the future makes your heart heavy and your stomach sick... it's almost overwhelming. I can't even begin to tell you how grateful that my last words to him were "I love you dad."

Then about a half hour ago, my friend put the phone up to his ear and, while he couldn't open his eyes and is randomly yelling out numbers, we had a conversation. It was brief, but I got the opportunity to say "I love you dad" a few more time and he said it back. I am grateful.

Today when the MC kids told me of a few mishaps during the clean up of the Cadre, like the van got stuck in the grass and tore up some sod, we blew two tires, and there is a bag of candy missing for the next Cadre welcome bags, etc ... my response was buy some sod and don't back the trailer into the driveway anymore, buy a couple of tires and get the breaks checked, buy some more candy and we'll lock it up next time ... in light of eternity, it's really not a big deal. Perspective is a beautiful thing.

So, I'm on a plane home this weekend. In the meantime, my sister and brother are taking turns at the hospital. In addition, I have the MOST AMAZING friends in the universe who are taking turns up at hospital as well. I am so thankful. Very few people on the planet are as fortunate as I am to have one friend like this ... let alone a bunch of them.