I don't make this blog a place to air dirty laundry about anyone but myself. At least, I've always tried. I have to dig into details of other people's lives to tell my own story at times but I do my best to not tell stories that aren't my own. I'm going to do my best to avoid that today while still explaining why the last time I posted to this blog, things got SO much weirder.
Last Friday night was one of the weirdest days of my life. It was like any other for most of the day. Me stressing about life and lacking work, my dad stressing about his health concerns and having no outlet for such things. My mom left for work while my sister was visiting. Dad asked my sister to take him to the nearby club to have some drinks and made sure I would be able to pick him up later. I said it was no problem and watched him go.
He does not drive; has not driven for years. A few hours later, the bartender called me and I came to pick him up. He was not as drunk as he usually would be for as long as he was out. He said he didn't finish his last beer. He wasn't feeling himself. I got him home and he made himself a bite to eat. I came back down to the basement to rejoin my friends online.
A bit later, he yells down to me saying he was going to the hospital. I was pretty confused by what that meant. He can't drive and was too drunk to attempt to do that himself. I yelled back to hang on and came upstairs. He was hunched over the stove talking to a cop. The cop looked to be asking him some simple questions and was trying to establish the whole situation. He had called the emergency line to request an ambulance to his hospital in Pittsburgh. I had mentioned in my last post exactly what I meant but it seems he is struggling with his thoughts. He was always a tough guy and had no way of contending with the recent horrible reality.
I explained to the cop that I was his son and that yes, it seems this is the course of action he wanted. The ambulance arrived a moment later. He climbed into the ambulance, almost falling backwards as he took the last step in, but he grabbed the doorway before he fell to the road below. A minute later, they were all gone, leaving me with the dog. Both of us were just kind of staring into the dark void, not sure what had just happened.
My mother works evenings at a psych hospital. She arrived home an hour and a half later. She was livid. I've rarely seen her so angry. She was mad that he did not seek any sorts of less severe help and try some counseling or therapy. He had checked himself in as an emergency.
I spent the next few days consoling my mom. We had moments of frustration. The first full night, there was a horrible wind storm that rolled through the area and we lost power. We keep some battery powered lanterns on hand for such cases but one of them was not working. Mom wanted to go to the store. I took her in my awesome Japanese import car. It only has comfortable room for one passenger so I had never gotten the chance to drive her anywhere in the thing. She enjoyed the ride to the local superstore where we bought a pack of D cell batteries and a new lantern. We got home and fixed the corroded, dead battery lantern with some 99% isopropyl and good company. With three lanterns, we sat at the dining room table for a while and talked about music, played a word puzzle game on her phone, and shared stories of family lost. It was a weird moment that I tend not to take-- a real connecting time with family.
So the next morning, our power came back online. I woke up to beeping battery backups and my desk light coming alive. Later the next day, the internet went out for a few hours. I called their support and it seemed to be the power company doing some kind of work. I had to assume it was from the wind storm damage the days before.
Dad was coming home Friday and I decided to get stuff together to greet him with a warm, home cooked meal. I got the stuff to make fried rice, a meal I'd been threatening to make for literal years and had never gotten around to.
He got home without further problems, I woke up to my parents coming through the front door. I started on the cooking and we caught up on stories of his time in the hospital. He met some interesting people there and was otherwise not jazzed about the situation. I think it helped him, though. I made sure to tell him I was proud that he sought help.
I have done errands, doctor and eye doctor appointments and hope to have my taxes done next week. I had issues with my W-2 never showing up or being lost before it hit my hands. But I got with my old company to get those.
Now, I just hope we can get things back on the rails. Live continues. I am unemployed, stressed, medically screwed. April 5th, I get the sutures in my mouth taken out. April 19th, I get to fly to Japan. I get to have my dream trip yet again. I will have no money to enjoy it but I will do my best.
I don't believe anyone I know in real life reads this. I'm not even sure anyone reads this at all. But if you did and you know the people I'm talking about in this, please leave it between you and me here. Know that I will appreciate that.
As I hit enter on this post, a violent storm is brewing outside. I hear the thunder and I'm not happy about it.