It seemed like a bad dream but the effects were real. Dejection and discouragement, melancholy, and the falling of an already low self-esteem; like a balloon that had been deflated. Lived in Vista and the same problems still followed. Carl having even more difficulty controlling his blood sugars, Jonathan not too happy about his surroundings, and me back to focusing on the planning and preparation of our daily meals and the exercise regimen.
Carl went back to work for Marie Callender’s where he had been employed while living in Austin, and I went to work for the school district. Jonathan started the 9th grade at the high school across the street. Didn’t care for the three C of Cs in the area, so started attending an evangelical covenant church located in the Albertson’s shopping center within walking distance from our apartment complex. The musical direction, even with a band, was inspiring and the sermons were geared toward the present and made for easy listening. Afterwards Jonathan could even tell you what the sermon was about.
In the apartment complex our neighbors had a golden retriever, Sunshine. She was a sweet dog and very well trained. Susie was pregnant and also had a little girl and said Jonathan was welcome to walk Sunshine at any time. Jonathan did it half heartedly and with not as much regularity as I would have expected.
One afternoon Carl took Sunshine out. He was gone for quite some time. There was a knock on the door. It was Dean, our manager, who also lived below us. Carl was having some problems and was at the front of the complex waiting for the paramedics. I hurried over and met the driver that stopped after seeing Carl staggering and falling down. He also got another neighbor to give him some orange juice and called for assistance. This man’s profession--a former paramedic who was the editor of the Journal of Emergency Medical Services. Said he was fascinated how this golden retriever stayed by Carl’s side the entire time--they both were sitting and Carl had his arm around her. Dean’s daughter recognized Carl and Sunshine and went to tell her dad to get me.
After the paramedics were ready to leave, Carl stood up and couldn’t walk. They took him to the ER. At the time the closest hospital (5 miles) was only accepting life threatening cases so, of course, had to go to the hospital in Escondido which was 12 miles away. Carl fractured his leg in three places and was going to be out of commission for a couple of months. Carl explained that even with all his confusion, he just wanted to hold on to Sunshine and keep her safe. Actually I think Sunshine was protecting Carl. After all the tests were done in the ER, it was advised that Carl see a specialist regarding his kidneys. The doc reaffirmed what the nephrologist said in Austin and gave us information about transplants and dialysis. Besides full cast, Carl started having fainting episodes and had to be careful when sitting up for long periods of time.
Jonathan made it through a semester of high school before Carl took a promotion as assistant manager and relocated to Santa Barbara. Home schooled Jonathan for a while but the cost of living was too high. (I must be crazy--didn’t care for Santa Barbara at all.) Packed up and headed to Albuquerque to decide whether to stay there or return to Austin. Guess one thing could be said--our lives were not boring.
(to be continued)
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1 comment:
Chipper is a lot like Sunshine, only not very sweet and about as misbehaved as a canine can be. Your life certainly has been anything but boring!! Maybe not pleasant and worked out as you may have dreamed ... but certainly not boring.
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