Having fun on a Friday morning...not!

While I was golfing, my Mom called to say that she was in the Emergency Room with an acute appendicitis. I wasn't overly concerned because she was A) in the emergency room and B) the appendix had not burst. What struck me about the message was the tone of her voice. It was the first time in my life I have ever detected fear in her voice. As the Mother of three sons, I am sure she has been scared countless times. She never let us see her afraid of anything. As a result, we never learned to be fearful either. Even when I was deployed to the Persian Gulf during the first Gulf War, I never hear any fear in her voice when we talked on the phone. I know she was worried for me, but she never let me hear it. Even then, she was protecting me. When I heard her message, I knew I had to get over there to show her the same fearless support she has always shown me.

Anyone who goes to the hospital knows it is a good place to 'have some repair work done', but it is not the best place to heal. I arrived at the hospital around 8:30. Mom and Dad were in the ER waiting to see a doctor. We waited, and waited, and waited... Around 10 PM, they took Mom for a chest x-ray. I took that opportunity to suggest that Dad and I go get something to eat. Dad looked tired, and I know he was hungry. We made like a bread truck and hustled our buns to the cafeteria. Mom beat us back to ER, but at least Dad was able to get some food. We finally saw a surgical resident around 12:30 AM. He told us they would not operate until later that morning, sometime after 7 AM. In the meantime, Mom was going to be admitted. I encouraged Dad to go home and get some sleep, and I stayed with Mom until she was moved to her room - at 2:00 AM!

A long night...