Too Much Too Soon

I have a lot to say… my sister graduated high school, my mom was in the hospital, my cousin was injured in Baghdad, and I took a trip to New York. Where to start. I guess I’ll start with graduation. My little sister recently graduation and as of this writing just returned from visiting the college that she will be attending in the fall.

You’d think that because of the inclement weather that was expected and forced the graduation inside the brand new multi-million facility, that something so simple as AIR-CONDITIONING might have been a thought. You are about to jam an approximate figure of a couple hundred graduates, teachers, the band (who was in full regalia), parents, siblings, other family, numerous well wishers, and other assorted white trash, maybe not turning on the ventilation system is BAD idea. What the hell do I know? It had to be over 85 degrees in the gym when it was fully packed. Uncomfortable, was one word that came to mind, unbearable for the band and the numerous people I saw on oxygen. The ceremony itself wasn’t too bad. It moved along at a good clip, but at the end of the evening I was really just wanting to get out. I think I have a grasp on what schools try to do to make everybody “feel” good about themselves, and apparently would have let the entire graduating class give a speech if they could, but thankfully, it was limited to 4 or 5 students with unoriginal, platitude ridden, self-absorbed speeches.

This one kid (who was the salutatorian) gave a speech that was so dull and uninteresting, I leaned over to my mom, and said something to the effect that this kid should either be an accountant or a trader (he kept talking about investing for the future). At one point in his speech (which had to be at least 7-10 minutes long), he said some nice thing about all the people who had helped him along the way. It was nice, and the crowd began to clap very loudly. But instead of taking the Constanza out, he continued on and actually spoke over the clapping and said, “I have more!!!” You could hear the collective sigh come out of the audience. I believe I verbalized my general unhappiness with his continuance, to which my mom shushed me. I won’t pick apart all the speeches given that night, because most of them sucked. Except for the keynote speaker. His speech was actually rather enjoyable and interesting, and I wrote some things down he mentioned, but I currently cannot find the programme that I wrote it on. Anywho, he was interesting, and his speech was short. Always a winner in a gym whose round temperature was approaching body temperature. My sister graduated, she has a diploma, and with that valuable piece of paper, I believe she is now disqualified from appearing as a guest on the Jerry Springer Show.

My cousin Josh who is over in Iraq was injured while out on patrol. He was recently rotated to daylight patrols from night. During one of his initial patrols the vehicle that he was riding in either hit a landmine or took a rocket. He took shrapnel and was taken to an area hospital. The army called my aunt to let her know he was injured, so she would not find out by watching the local news. They stated that his condition, on a scale from: Very Bad, Bad, to Ok; he was Ok. This is great relief to me, and to my family, the question of his return to the states is still that, a question. I believe that he’ll prolly stay in Iraq. My desire, as anyone who has family over in a forward area, is for his return, but we don’t get to make those choices, and my family doesn’t have political stroke to get him out. It’ll be a waiting game, and we don’t have any options.

In the continuing saga of parental health, my mom was hospitalised the Monday after my sister graduated/father’s day. I didn’t find out about it until I got home from my radio show that Monday evening. There were a few disjointed messages on the machine from my sister. She was hysterical and crying. I picked up the phone straight away and tried to get a cogent thought from her regarding the situation. Apparently, mom had been complaining of tightness in her chest in the early evening, but it had not dissipated during the church board meeting. So my dad took her to the hospital. My mom did not want to go, and thus, she and my father had an adult conversation about the situation and made her go to the hospital. At that point in my conversation I was ready to scream. Not out of anger, and not out of distress. My desire to scream and holler was out of frustration. It had been about a year out since my dad had his second surgery to repair what had gone wrong during the original triple bypass. And this is me being selfish to be sure. But I don’t need two parents with heart conditions. I don’t need that kind of stress in my life. I don’t need to lose any (more) hair over my folk’s medical conditions. I don’t want to be worried all the time, my job gives me enough to worry about. I love my mom and dad and I don’t know what I’d do without them, I don’t want both of them near the edge. So after collecting a few phone numbers, I stared making the calls, to my job, to my pastor, to my friends from bible study (I’ll make it there one of these weeks), friends from college, and family. Just sending out requests to pray and keeping a good thought. Trying to get ahold of my dad was another story. Hospitals jerk you around good in the daytime, nighttime is a whole ‘nother ball of crap. After getting transferred around 3 or 4 times I finally got to speak to my dad. He told me to sit tight and wait until the tests are done and we get some results. I asked when we should expect to hear, he said that it may be an hour or so. I told him that I’d call back in an hour. In the meantime I stared to pack up a bag for a trip home. I tried to settle myself down, but it is hard when your parent is lying in a hospital bed 2 and a half hours away. I called back and dad told me to come home. Boom. I was on the road in 5 minutes. I called him on the way and he told me to go to the house instead of the hospital. The next day when my dad and I got to the hospital, it was a long wait, as they continued to run test on my mom. I absolutely hate waiting. Most of the time I can be very cool about it, but I detest waiting for important things. I can wait for the movie to start, and I can wait to use the phone. But waiting in the hospital, not a fan. At the end of the day, the tests came back negative for as the doctors put it: “An Event”. Prescriptions for angina and acid reflux. I brought her home and she passed out in the recliner watching the Yankees game with me. She had the flu later in the week, but is better now. To all who prayed for her, my deepest thanks.

I’ll leave my trip to New York for another day….

To my compatriot at HelmetHeadJournal: some additions for the list-

Z. Zevon, Warren; Zombie, Rob;
Y. Yardbirds, the
X. XTC
W. White Zombie
U. Undercover
R. Rock, Kid
J. Jackyl, Jesus & Mary Chain
I. Indigenous
E. Echobrain
C. Cheap Trick; Clapton, Eric; Cocker, Joe; Cutting Crew
#. 77’s

NP: Kinski – Rhode Island Freakout

- posted by TundraBoy @ 10:43 PM