This (well, yesterday, now) morning I go out for milk, and decide to get some yogurt for the trip home tomorrow, too. Daughter calls for a ride from hospital to hotel, as grandson is being discharged. I call the shop; they've just gotten the part and will have my car ready by the time I can get there. Mrs tg isn't dressed yet, so I wait for her. We go get my car, which is now running fine, and mrs tg drives her sister's car back to the house so she can have it back. Meanwhile I head to hospital, where we wait 20+ minutes for a wheelchair to bring grandson down to car. Then to pharmacy, where grandson and I again play "I Spy" for what seems like an hour. After dropping them at the hotel, I head to dad's house to give him an update. I think I might take a few minutes to decompress there, but mrs tg's oldest brother and his family are there, too, so this is unlikely to be a restful atmosphere. I drive back to sister-in-law's place, am getting a bite to eat when mrs tg announces she's ready for us to head back to dad's.
I very quietly turn and walk up the stairs, enter the guest bedroom where we're staying, and lie down across the bed. I really need a few minutes respite at this point. Mrs tg comes in to ask what's wrong, and I know I'd have a hard time explaining, so I don't really try. I understand she's been patiently waiting there for hours while I drove between and waited outside of the repair shop, the hospital, the pharmacy, the hotel, her dad's house, and her sister's house. At this precise moment, I need to catch my emotional breath. I ask her for a few minutes, after which I go back downstairs and ask if she's ready to leave.
Last night her sister timidly asked if we could be on our own tonight so she could have dinner with her sons & their girlfriends, and of course we don't mind in the least. We'd gotten an e-mail from one of my cousins suggesting we get together, and mrs tg and I agreed it would provide a good chance to get out of her sister's way if we visited him and his wife. But after we're at her dad's with family for a while, she lets me know she'd really rather not leave. She rarely sees her oldest brother, who lives around San Jose, or her aunt and uncle from Washington. We agree it will just be me visiting my cousin, and I head up to his house for a few hours. What a nice, relaxing visit, after which I go back to pick up wife and middle daughter, bid everyone farewell, and head back to sister-in-law's house. Except first there's a side trip to the hotel (opposite direction) because oldest daughter left something behind.
Finally arriving at wife's sister's place, I realize as we walk in front door that I've made a terrible logistical oversight. Middle daughter rode to MD with oldest daughter's family in our van, but is riding home with us. This means my bike, which rode in my back seat on the drive here, must go into trunk for the trip home, which in turn means no room for suitcases. All of this I knew already, but finally realize that there's no way for us to meet oldest daughter to transfer stuff into the van in the morning, because we won't all fit with all this stuff! So another round trip to the hotel is needed to put our bags in the back of the van. Fortunately, I realize that if I make the drive tonight I can sleep in tomorrow morning. I'll finally get to collapse in bed around 2 a.m., after our latest night yet. At least I won't have to be up in the morning before they leave; they're planning a 7 a.m. departure. I tell mrs tg that when (not if; I know it like I know the sun will rise) oldest daughter calls to say they can't get everything in, to tell them they have a choice: they can take the bags or they can take her sister.
No comments:
Post a Comment