MOM
Twenty-one years ago, New Year’s Eve, 12/31/1999, ended a decade and a century (in common usage). Folks were worried about Y2K (rolling over to 2000). On Tuesday, 12/28/1999, an ambulance took my mother, with three sons following, to the local hospital. The next day, an ambulance transferred her, with family members following, to the intensive care unit (ICU) at Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport. Family members began sitting with my mother seven days a week, 24 hours a day, in three 8-hour-shift rotations. The pattern continued for 110 days, until my mother was released to return home on Saturday, 4/15/2000.
“Drip, drip” is what I heard on 12/31/1999, as midnight approached. Mom was in her ICU room, unconscious. Family members were around her. At midnight, the start of a new century, I said to my unhearing mother, “Happy New Year, Mom.” A nurse came in a few moments later to ensure that the “drip, drip” machine, which was keeping my mother alive, had not stopped due to the rollover to 2000. It didn’t. That was how we rang in the New Year and the new century.
I will not go into every detail, etched into my memory, about my mother's physical trials from 12/28/1999 to 12/27/2000. On Thanksgiving 2000, my mother was better than she had been before 12/28/1999. She even said, “I think that I am beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel!” That was a tremendous Thanksgiving. (My yet unpublished book will be titled “Light at the End of the Tunnel.”) Mom was recovering well from the cerebellar hemorrhage, caused by an arteriovenous malformation (i.e., birth defect), that had inflicted its wrath on 12/28/1999. On that Thanksgiving, we did not know, but my mother had a fast-moving type of cancer in her bones, which spread quickly to her lungs. She had not shown any symptoms until the Friday after Thanksgiving 2000. Mom “went to see Jesus,” in her words, on Wednesday, 12/27/2000, at 5:15 PM at the homeplace. (Three days before, on Christmas Eve, I followed the ambulance that brought Mom home from the Kingsport hospital. Mom wanted to “go see Jesus” at home.)
Friday, 12/27/2019, was a workday for me. I endured it. As I plugged in the lights for our “20th-year remembrance” Christmas tree, it was 5:15 PM. Our “20th-year Christmas tree” denotes the number of years since 12/28/1999. The next day, 12/28/2019, I woke up to get out of bed at 7:17 AM. I was born on 7/17/1960.
Friday, 12/29/2000, was the funeral service for my mother at the East Rogersville Baptist Church. Nineteen years later, on Sunday, 12/29/2019, I remembered.
Saturday, 12/30/2000, was the graveside service at the Howe’s Chapel Baptist Church cemetery. The high temperature was about 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Nineteen years later, on Monday, 12/30/2019, my only work day this week, I remembered.
CHRISTMAS
What I was writing on 12/25/2019
The “scriptural” time to eat Christmas dinner (not “lunch”) is between 12 and 1 PM on Christmas Day. On Christmas Day, 12/25/2019, at 12:24 PM, as I wrote this sentence, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman was mashing potatoes and finishing up the other fixins. We were getting close to the “unscriptural” 4 PM dinner time at her paternal aunt’s house. My in-laws would be there, as usual. I was hungry, dear! Should I eat a snack? Yes, I did! (By the way, the evening meal is called supper, not dinner! That is biblical! Read the book of 2 Opinions, Chapter 12, verse 6!)
Well, we had a good Christmas. We were at my wife's “home away from home,” where her father, sister, our niece, three cats, and one dog live, to visit and open gifts. Also, there was my sister-in-law from Nashville and her two cats. Finally, we enjoyed the “unscriptural” 4 PM supper and the “scriptural” gift exchanges at her aunt’s house, where her son, my wife's first cousin, also lives.
12/23-24/2019 Update
Monday, 12/23/2019: Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I received our every-four-week chiropractic adjustments at 9 AM. Afterward, still in rainy weather, I took her Christmas shopping. This would be my Christmas gift to her. I stood by watching her select a tree. She may or may not act surprised on Christmas!
Christmas Eve, 12/24/2019: We visited with my youngest brother and his family. As usual, we had a great time together. Since it was so “globally climate changing” warm, we had fun at a nearby park behind the elementary school! The first game matched my wife and youngest brother against his two daughters. Our two nieces won, 20 to 14! The second game matched my wife and our eldest niece against my youngest brother and his youngest daughter. The all-female team won, 20 to 16! My right foot, right knee, and left shoulder enjoyed shooting a few baskets at the other end of the outdoor court. Being left-handed, my shot strength and accuracy improved, but I still have a ways to go before I try to sink a half-court shot, as I used to be able to do at times. Enjoy the following photographs!
My youngest brother’s wife is still unable to play basketball due to her “bionic” left foot. Can you see the shadow of who is taking the photograph?
Of course, I had to “hike a ridge.” I did so three times. The following is one image of me standing at the top of the “ridge”!
NEW YEAR’S EVE
On 12/31/2019, New Year’s Eve, I hiked House Mountain for the 164th time. The weather had finally turned cooler. Please enjoy the following photographs.
Can you guess where I was when I took the above photograph?
The photograph above is from the upper-middle bluff, looking north. Can you see the location, from which I had taken the previous photograph?
The above is from the lower-middle bluff, looking north. Years ago, the owner granted me permission to go to this bluff anytime, as long as I didn’t tell anyone. Otherwise, he has posted private property restriction signs. Don’t tell anyone!
The above was near the west bluff. I had just started hiking down. The view looks northeast. The location, near the middle tree, includes the rock that I touch to check my time when I reach the west bluff. I spent three hours in the woods. My right foot “talked” to me afterward, as it does. My 2006 Frontier reached 171,800 miles on the dot when we arrived back at the house.
NEW YEAR’S DAY
New Year's Day, 1/1/2020, started a new decade. I hiked House Mountain for the 165th time! The weather was about the same as the day before. It was, however, a little warmer with a few clouds. Please enjoy the photographs, which follow!
The above is from the west bluff, looking northeast. The partial image of the rock in the lower right is what I touch to check my time. It took me 34 minutes from the marker near the covered picnic area to that rock. Twenty-four or 25 minutes used to be a good time. I have made 22 and 23 minutes before. Now, my “bionic” right foot and knee grant 30 to 34 minutes as a good time. Of course, far too many hikers, going down and up, delayed me a bit. “My Mountain” has become too popular for hiking. It wasn’t like that years ago.
Well, my 2006 Frontier and I could only find the above place to park at our arrival. In all, it was a wonderful two hours in the woods.
Afterward, I joined my wife, who was visiting with her folks at their house. There, I replaced the left front wheel cover on my “favorite” sister-in-law’s car. She keeps losing them. I bought her a stockpile of replacements. I keep replacing them. I need to buy her another set of four. Do you know what you’re getting for your birthday for the third year in a row, “favorite” sister-in-law?
CONCLUSION
Well, today, the rain is into its second day. I am glad I got in those last two hikes when I did!
Christmas Day 1982: Papaw Wood became ill. He went to his heavenly home on 3/14/1983.
Christmas Day 1999: Above, I have already written about my mother. It all started on 12/28/1999.
Christmas 2000: The details about my mother are written above. She “went to see Jesus” on 12/27/2000.
Christmas Eve 2002: My brother Doug brought our father home from the Johnson City hospital. I followed in my 1995 Nissan truck (which died on 3/29/2016, when I did not). We thought our father was coming home to die in about six weeks. Thank you, Lord, that he improved and stayed with us longer!
Christmas Day 2007: This was my father's last Christmas. His heart was finally winding down. Seeing the weakened condition of a once very strong father was not pleasant for us. On 1/25/2008, my father joined his wife, my mother, at their heavenly home.
In the short term, I have endured another Christmas and New Year’s season. This was the 20th year since Mom’s illness started and the 19th since she went to see Jesus. It is coming up on 12 years since my parents were reunited in heaven. As you can tell by reading, the season has passed with both fun and sorrow. It is always a mix of both each season.
In the long term, both sets of grandparents, my parents, and so many others have already gone to heaven. I plan to join them some day. Then, there will be no mix of joy and sorrow. It will all be joy in that day!
If you are reading and have not yet accepted the Good Lord’s gift of salvation, I strongly recommend that you do so. If you are not living according to God's gift that you have accepted, I highly encourage you to start living in appreciation of his gift.
No comments:
Post a Comment