The longest week
Thursday, Jul. 31, 2003, 1:03 pm

This week just wasn�t meant to go smoothly. First, the car. No need to expound on that one. Then, on Tuesday night, one of P�s brothers and one of his sisters (he has 4 and 3 of each, respectively) called to tell him that his mom has taken a turn for the worse, and he needs to go to Dallas right away.

A while ago I wrote about P�s mom�s health problems, and we weren�t sure she�d pull through. But she did, and it seemed she was feeling stronger. Lately, though, she�s been getting weaker and weaker, and this week she made the decision to discontinue her dialysis treatments. She had one on Wednesday, and is supposed to have one tomorrow, but won�t. I don�t know how long a person can survive without dialysis, but it looks like the end may be near now. So he�s catching an early morning flight tomorrow, and will see his mama for probably the last time. He�s pretty broken up about it. If it weren�t for the extraordinary expense we face with getting our car repaired, we might be able to go with him, but under the circumstances, B and I will be staying home. But our thoughts will be with P and his family, for sure.

Today I got a phone call at work telling me that B had been stung by not one, but two bees. Once on the leg and once on the upper arm. She seemed fine, but was very weepy and her arm and leg were a bit swollen and sore. I decided to go pick her up and bring her home, where I can watch her and comfort her. Poor thing. She got stung for the first time on the finger last summer, and has never forgotten it. She�s had a true fear of bees since then, and after today I expect it to be even worse.

So I�m at home, gearing up to do laundry and help P pack for his trip, while monitoring B�s bee stings. This has been the longest week for me, and even longer for P. He�s been homebound, since I�ve had to drive his car. He likes telecommuting, but I can tell he�s getting cabin fever. Now this with his mama. I�m so glad I got to meet her. It was only once, and it was three years ago, but I�m glad just the same.

I have a feeling it�s going to be a long weekend without P around. We�ll keep busy and do things, but it�s not the same without him here. And I�ll be anxious every time the phone rings, expecting to hear sad news.

Well, laundry calls.

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