Beech Tree News Network

Have you ever had one of those weeks that started out alright, but then took on a life of its own, and all you could do was go along for the ride?  It has been one of those weeks.

It all started out so well.  Garey went to Alabama last Friday to see his mom, Agnes.  I asked him to see if she would come back with him on Sunday to spend the week with us.  She did, and we had a wonderful week together.  Agnes went with me every day on my paper route.  She was a big help, because she would roll and band papers as I drove.  By mid-week, Sabria, my granddaughter, had warmed up to her great grandmother, and I really enjoyed watching the two of them interact in the living room every evening while we watched TV.

I believe it was Thursday when the first evidence of the chaos to come began to show up.  My friend, Gary B. had to have open heart surgery that morning.  His siblings couldn’t be there until later in the day, so he asked if I could be with his mother until the operation was over.  I told him I would be, so I arrived at the Medical Center at 6 a.m. Thursday morning.

The surgery was quite lengthy, and we were finally allowed to see Gary B. in recovery at 1 p.m., at which time his siblings had arrived at the hospital, so I took my leave and headed for the Daily News office.  I had to pick up my own papers that day (they are usually dropped off in Morgantown) in order to get straight to my route, because I had planned to ride with some friends to learn their route.  They subbed for me during the summer, so Garey and I could meet up with my younger daughter, Nikki, in Florida for a few days.  I am returning the favor on their route next week.

Agnes didn’t go with me on Thursday, instead staying at my house so she could cook dinner for my family.  After my route, I met up with my friend to learn that route, taking pages of copious notes to ensure that I would remember every stop.  I arrived home around 6:30 p.m., just in time to see my oldest daughter, Natalie, off for a three-day drill week-end.  I would be keeping Sabria until Friday evening, when I would take her to her father’s house for the week-end.  I stayed up until 11 p.m., transposing the notes I had taken on the paper route into a decipherable list that I could use next week. 

Sabria and I spent a large part of Friday going up and down the hill behind my house to the shop that holds my kiln. I have two kilns now, so we were loading and unloading and cleaning bottles for most of the morning.  I gave her a bath, and Agnes watched her play in the tub while I put hangers and labels on bottles.  At 2:30, we set out to pick up papers and head back out onto the road again.  We finished the route at 4:45 then headed to Sabria’s father’s house to drop her off for the week-end.  After I got Sabria settled in, Agnes and I headed back to Morgantown.  

On the way back, Gary B.’s mom called and asked if I could come in for the 6:15 to 6:30 visit (heart patients are only allowed visitors for fifteen minutes at a time, and the next allowed time was 9 p.m.).  I looked at the clock.  It was 5:30.  I told her I could make it, and proceeded to drive like a crazy person to drop Agnes off at my house then head to the medical center.  I made it in time to see my friend, who was recovering quite well, thank God.

I returned home, bone-tired, watched a little TV, and went to bed, where I laid awake until the early hours of the morning.  My paper route starts at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday mornings.  The alarm went off at five.  I drug myself from the bed, went into the kitchen, and heard Agnes yelling for help.  I ran up to her room, where I found her lying on the floor, unable to get up.  I ran back to my bedroom, roused Garey, and we both went back to Agnes’s room to see if we could help her.  She told us she had been lying in the floor since 3 a.m., crying for help, but we couldn’t hear her.  Agnes is 84 years old, and both of her children have been trying to get her to wear one of those medic-alert things, but she said she didn’t think she was quite at the point in her life where she needed one.  She changed her mind.

We called 911, Garey followed the ambulance to the Medical Center, and I left for my paper route, realizing I was going to have to make record time, because I had promised to work for our office manager at New Image that day.  I finished my route late, I arrived at the second job late, but thankfully the guys had everything under control—Garey had called Greg, who had come in to work in his place that day.  

Garey called Saturday afternoon to say that Agnes had broken a hip, and they planned to operate on Sunday morning.  I went into B.G. again Saturday night to see both Gary B. and Agnes.  Gary B. looked great, considering, but Agnes was in a lot of pain.  I came back home, because I had another early morning route.  I wanted to try to make it to the hospital on Sunday morning while they were doing surgery.  Garey called me about 8 a.m. Sunday morning to say they had to reschedule surgery for Sunday evening, because Agnes’s blood is still too thin (she takes a blood-thinner because of heart problems).

So here we are.  It’s Sunday afternoon, around 1 p.m.  I’m finishing this column, Garey has gone back up to the hospital after a quick trip home, Natalie is in Richmond at drill, Sabria is at her father’s house, but will need to be picked up at five, and poor Agnes is lying in a hospital bed still awaiting surgery.  The only one of us with any degree of normalcy in their lives is Fancy, Agnes’ dog.  Right now, she’s asleep in the living room.  I may just curl up beside her for a couple of hours.  

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