A New Page

Whew! Another traumatic week has gone by. As much as I would like to "turn back time" (Cher's song) I am glad that this past week is over and I have a new page to write.

Ray, my son-in-law that is more like my son, had a heart procedure that was supposed to be "go into Vanderbilt at 6:30AM, have the procedure that will last approximately six hours, rest over night and come home the next morning". That absolutely was so far from what really occurred. His heart, that was supposed to be in rhythm and stay in rhythm lasted not even 24 hours until he was setting off signals to the attendants and they were hovering in his room to make sure that he was going to be okay. Poor Nita - she had no idea what was going on and of course she was quite nervous. Ray, on the other hand was enjoying the results of a sleeping pill so he more or less just slept through it all and maybe that was a very good thing. Anyway, to make this long story short - meds have been changed, he is at home and planning to work a few hours today and go back on Wednesday to have his heart put back in rhythm one more time and hopefully it will "stay put" this time. It seems like nothing is simple any more. Why is that I wonder.

Saturday was a great day for me. Corinne and I went to Crossville to attend the wedding of my great-niece. We had a lovely lunch and used their rest room facility to change into my "wedding attire" and then we went to the church. It was a big,l very pretty Baptist Church on the Main Street in Crossville, TN. We were a little early so I sat down in a comfortable chair in the lobby while Corrinne went to the car to bring in our present. When my nephew, Mark Rainey, saw me he came running to me with this great big smile and (moist eyes) gave me a real sure enough "bear hug". He did the same for Corinne when she came back. We sat an visited with him, and his wife, Karen, and their two children, Allie and Kyle, until time to go into the sanctuary to be seated. We sat in the Family Section like we were really big wheels. Kristen, the bride, was just adorable and she and her father came down the aisle - she smiling; he with the "moist eyes again". After the wedding everyone was treated to a beautiful spread of food, wedding cake and punch or iced tea at tables in the lobby and Mark, Corinne and I had another good visit. As the reception ended and the couple, Kristen and Toby, left amid a shower of bird seed, Corinne and I decided that we would skip the next event - a dinner to start at 6:30 - and come on back home. I am so glad that we did because we got home around 6:30 and after stopping at the grocery for some things I needed we had a whole evening to recuperate from the drive and the days events. It was a lovely day and I enjoyed every single minute of it.

Mark is my brother's youngest son and next to the youngest child. He has two older brothers and a younger sister. It is hard for me to believe that none of the above mentioned siblings was there. My brother, Ronald, was raised by the same mother and aunt that I was and he had the same values of family instilled in him that I did, but he married a woman that did not carry the same values into the marriage. Therefore, those children are not close to each other, and in fact some have not shared a conversation in years nor do they have any idea what the other one is doing, thinking, needing or anything. How very sad I think that is. My girls on the other hand are so very different. They love each other, they talk to each other with regularity, they suffer with each other, they rejoice with each other, they cry together, they laugh together, they treasure family times when they are all together. Each woman has a very busy, very varied lifestyle but they always have time to stop their world long enough to minister to one of their sisters when the occasion warrants it. Therefore, it is so foreign to me when I see other families who are estranged, who have disowned a child or sister or brother, who is not interested in their sibling's lives or children and it just makes me get on my poor old worn out knees and that God that the thread of love that runs throughout my family is so strong and I pray that nothing ever changes.

I ended up the week with an afternoon visit with my friend, Barbara's, daughter-in-laws who are planning a 75th birthday party for her this week-end. They were planning the food, the venue and all of the arrangements. It is going to be a gala time and I am happy to be a part of it. I do love parties and especially celebration parties such as birthdays, weddings, new babies, etc.

So, after an eventful week of worry over my son, attending a wedding, planning a party - these things amid my regular wee activities I am pulling out a new page, getting ready to write another story and have a grand time. I look forward to each and every new day as an adventure and a big surprise package. This week will see Ray have a birthday, Nita and Ray have an anniversary, Barbara's party and in between my work at DLC, my Alumni meeting, my scrap booking project taking shape, Patrick's house closing and maybe his moving, and who knows just what else will be written on my New Page.