A little worse for wear…and pretty darned Thankful!

“I hope you meet a good man just like him someday,” my mother said to me last night as she sat on the edge of the bed with her feet swinging ever so slightly…a tell-tale sign she was on the mend.

It was just after ten pm…Dad had just left for home to catch a few hours sleep…sixteen hours after he’d rushed Mom to the hospital with stomach issues.

Months of waiting for a specialist appointment had finally come to this.

He’d sat by her side throughout the day making sure she had everything she needed…thinking one step ahead of everyone else.

“I’m not sure I ever will, Mom” I said…”and besides, I’m pretty lucky to have him as my Dad.”

“You will someday” she continued…then proceeded to tell me there were lots of great men in the world.

It was later, while sitting on the most uncomfortable plastic chair imaginable…my head resting on a hospital tray-table in some crazed attempt to try to get comfortable…as mom snored softly in the bed beside me…that I thought of how lucky I was to be the daughter of these two exceptional people.

How THANKFUL I was.

For starters…I was thankful for our medical system…for the nurses and doctors who worked with Mom all day to try to make her comfortable…to fill us in on what was going on…and bring pain relief during a crazy-busy night in the ER. I was thankful that things weren’t worse than what they were as until that day…I’d never seen my mother so sick before.

I was Thankful that I was able to spend the day by mom and dad’s side even if it meant cancelling our family turkey dinner…even if it meant throwing out the raw unstuffed turkey that sat out on the counter and never made it to the oven…even if it meant I’d made a wasted trip to the supermarket the night before grabbing all of the veggies needed for dinner before the store closed at midnight…as that was the first opportunity I’d had to do so.

I was Thankful for my family and friends who stayed in touch throughout the day and sent their thoughts and prayers…for my girlfriends who sent their love, for my three kids who continuously checked in and for my brothers who gave every bit of support they could from a distance…both of them grateful for the updates and making sure I was taking as much care of myself as I was of Mom and Dad.

I was Thankful that I’d managed to somehow convince my father to go home for a few hours to get some sleep, Thankful that he put the dog out on his way…and Thankful that they eventually told me they were keeping mom overnight…that she was resting comfortably enough that I could lift my head off the tray table at 2:30 am and head home for a few hours sleep.

I was Thankful that when my alarm went off at 7am this morning, that Dad texted to tell me he was already there…and to close my eyes for a few hours more.

I was Thankful when I finally did arrive…that mom looked a heck of a lot different than the day before and that 30 hours after she’d arrived at the hospital…almost 40 hours after her ordeal had begun…that she was no longer an “emergency”, that we finally had a plan…and that the rest of her appointments could be dealt with on an outpatient basis.

As we walked out of the hospital…exhausted and spent…the sun shining brightly and the trees reflecting an orange glow from their changing leaves…Mom and Dad holding hands as they headed to the car…it was by far, one of the greatest THANKSGIVINGS I could ever remember.

And it continued…

As I arrived on my doorstep…my pup beyond excited to see me…I was Thankful to see a homemade Pumpkin Pie dropped off by my friend Laura, my East Coast Mom business partner-in-crime.

And…moments after I walked in the house…I was more thankful than you could possibly imagine as my friend Lisa arrived with all of her leftovers and trimmings…the makings of the most amazing turkey dinner!

But best of all…

I was Thankful…

That I was able to grab the leftovers, jump in my car and head down the road to share a delicious Thanksgiving Dinner…

With two of the most amazing people I know.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your day was a little less eventful than mine…but every bit as wonderful.

xo