Well, today was a day that I'd rather forget. It started out so well -- St. Patrick's day is another day for cookies in my office, so we started out on a sugar high. The morning went well, until Dad sent Shane and I an email saying that Mom was very, very sick. By 3:45, she had been through several tests and was headed to the hospital. They suspect that she has a bowel obstruction. I've never seen anyone writhe in pain before -- it was horrible. Finally, they got her doped up on enough meds that she didn't care about the pain. She gets really fun when she's higher than a kite :-). Unfortunately, she may need surgery -- they won't decide until tomorrow afternoon. Shane & Candy left the hospital around 9:00 to head home and I headed to Mom and Dad's to get some things for them for tomorrow. Just as I pulled in to Mom and Dad's driveway, Shane called -- he'd just arrived home to find that his house had been robbed. He pulled into the driveway and found his cd/dvd cabinet in the middle of the driveway and the backdoor open. He went back to the car and called 911, then called me while he was waiting on the police. The police took more than 13 minutes to get to his house. I grabbed what Mom and Dad needed and headed for Shane's. By then, the police were there and investigating, so I stayed long enough to walk through the house and then took the dog back to my house (she was very shaken, but, thank heavens, she's ok). Shane was holding up pretty well, too. Mad as heck, but ok (though he did throw up for a while later -- can't blame him - I felt like hurling, too). They took his laptop, home theater system, digital camera and some miscellaneous things (like a pillow case) and ransacked his bedroom, but there was no permanent damage (to the house, at least). We decided not to call Mom and Dad at the hospital - no sense in scaring them when there's nothing they can do. Shane will be a my house tonight and then we'll go from there.
This family has been through some tough times before -- times when we literally didn't know if one of us would live through the next day -- but I have to say that this is the worst stretch in recent history. Currently, we have one Grandma who has terminal cancer, one grandpa who almost died of the flu (or something like it), Dad and Shane had their cars vandalized and Candy's purse was stolen, Dad was laid off, Mom may need surgery and now Shane's house has been trashed. I know without a doubt that God has a plan. I know that, like Job, we have to wait on the Lord -- there are always circles and seasons in life, this is just a difficult season. I guess I am struggling with "survivor's" guilt -- my car was parked between Dad and Shane's when they were vandalized, yet it was untouched; Dad got laid off, and I got a raise; Shane had surgery (and possibly Mom, too) and I am healthier than I've been in years. I don't understand why God is blessing me while everyone else is struggling so much -- I just thank him for it and try to minister to everyone else as much as I can. I love them so much and it just breaks my heart to see them go through so many horrible things. Perhaps therein lies the lesson -- it's always easier for me when I am the one struggling; I have no problem leaving my life and my problems in God's hands -- that's easy. It is far more difficult for me to leave my loved one's and their problems there.
Well, I think I made up for not blogging for several days. I am still waiting for Shane to finish up with the CSI team, then it's off to bed. I can't wait, though I'm not sure I'll actually sleep at all.
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Well, I waited to post this until morning, and I don't think Shane or I slept for more than a few hours each. On the bright side, Sugar slept quite well after apparently exhausting herself yesterday running Shane's neighborhood for who knows how long. We're off to see Mom and Dad and tell them about last night. Let me say this -- it ain't gonna be pretty. . .Here's hoping no, praying for a better day today.
posted by Chasity @ 6:32 AM
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