MAY

Have you ever seen those commercials where the old lady is laying in the floor hollering, "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up?" I always admonish my mama to keep her cellphone on her so she won't be helpless like that old woman on TV. I'm glad she listened.

I got a call last Sunday. Katie told me to get to Mama's house right away. She had fallen. Mama tried to call us but couldn't get anyone. Scout found her and called 911. We rushed up there in time to see her being loaded into an ambulance. They took Mama to the hospital to examine her. She broke her leg.

The doctor couldn't do surgery right away because she takes blood thinner medicine. They finally did surgery on Monday and the doctor inserted a long metal rod in her thigh bone. 

Mama spent several days in SICU* until they finally moved her to a private room. She sounded coherent when she was in SICU but began to sound unclear later on. I stayed with her most of the time at the hospital because she didn't need to be alone. 

It took a while for them to regulate her oxygen level and heartbeat. She began to get feisty and kept wanting to get up. She couldn't stand laying in bed any longer. Her doctor released her to go to rehab today. I'm glad because she wasn't in any shape to go home alone yet. I'd make some lame joke about my mama going to rehab if it wasn't so sad. I hate seeing her so helpless.

Everybody was concerned about Mama. Aunt Jonnie and my uncle, Robert, drove down from Chattanooga to check on her a couple of times. We went to the Oakwood Cafe for dinner while Mama was in surgery.

Patsy sent Mama some flowers in the hospital because she couldn't be there. She moved back to Illinois recently. Mary Jane had moved back to Savannah a couple of months ago to be with her son so Patsy thought it was time to move closer to Donna and Butch.

It seems like we have lost so many people we love in one way or another. I counted and I've been to four funerals since Thanksgiving. Daddy and his sister, Vivian, passed away six weeks apart. Then Scout's fiance, Katie, lost her father three weeks later. Two weeks after that, Daddy's best friend, Gordon, lost his battle with cancer. 

Since November we have lost four loved ones and Donny had a quadruple bypass. To say we are up against the wall is an understatement. I was finally glad Donny was released to go back to work and thought things were improving until Mama slipped and fell. 

I felt like we were under a stormy cloud and hoped things wouldn't get worse but they did. 

A friend of mine who is on Facebook contacted me and told me that her husband had a heart attack and they weren't able to save him. I was shocked and devastated because he was a good friend of mine, too. I've known him most of my life. Steve was four years younger than me. I couldn't believe it. I went to the funeral home to pay my respects to his family today.

It seems like when it rains, it pours. It breaks my heart that my friends and family are passing away. There are so many wonderful people that used to be in my life that are now gone. I miss them so much and I wonder if things will ever be normal again. I doubt it. Nothing's ever the same after you lose someone. I only hope all our luck improves soon.

*surgical intensive care unit

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Rachel, Steve, Connie, Maranda, Vivian, Nita, Junior, and Madison

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

RIP

Edwadene McAllister, Grampaw Carter, Ev Chastain

REMEMBER

Mother's Day, Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day

AS ALWAY

PIO