Leaving work, and turning on my cell phone, I have a voice mail message from Dad. “Please call home when you get a minute.” Can’t be good.
Ring. Ring.
“Dad? This is John. What’s up?”
“How much trouble would it be to cancel our trip next month? Would you lose a lot of money?”
Hmmmm. Let’s see… 7 rooms at $409 a piece, Emeril reservations for 14, 7 relatives flying down from New England to surprise them, their son who they haven’t spoken to in 10 years there… hmmm
“No problem. Aren’t you feeling well?”
“I have a Dr.’s appointment on the 27th. I can’t walk ten feet without getting all out of breath. It’s gotta be a problem with my ticker. And I have a stress test scheduled for September 10th.”
Well, this certainly has put an interesting twist on the 50th Anniversary Surprise party. I called Vivian, and we discussed. We’ve decided to wait until after the 27th appointment to make any changes or to alert the relatives. It will cost no more to cancel the hotels then. The flights may get more expensive to change, but I’m willing to eat that.
If they find something serious on the 27th, surely they will move the stress test up. They may even put him in the hospital immediately. So everything will most likely hinge on that appointment.
Robert checked in, and after hearing about his first day of school, not going all that well, really, he asked me how I was. “I’ve been better,” I said, and shared the news. He was so sweet. No surprise there. What a dear man. After hanging up, he called me back in a few minutes asking me if I wanted to come over for dinner, and/or for a hug. I love his thoughtfulness!
I spoke with Steve, and told him about it, and he invited me over to dinner. “Honey, you’re an extrovert; you need to talk about it. Come over and eat with us.” I joined him and Brian for a pork chop dinner, which was quite yummy. While we were eating, the mayor dropped by.
Over the course of the evening, I came up with “Plan B.” Fly the relatives to Raleigh instead of Orlando, rent cars for them, and put them up in hotels in Jacksonville. We can have the same party there, minus Emeril’s restaurant. That’ll do in a pinch. Even paying any of their flight penalties and renting cars for them, it will end up costing less than the Orlando gigs due to the fact that hotels in Jacksonville will be half of what the ones in Orlando were going to be.
I’m anxious for that appointment next week. I like things settled.