Most of you know that I collect euphemisms for death in the obituaries. This one is especially poetic:
| On Saturday, February 28, 2009, God dispatched a host of angels to bring Mother Amie Avery home. The call was louder than a whisper, the roaring voice of God; but you and I did not hear it because He only said, Mother Amie Avery and only she could answer the call. |
I was up at 6:30 this morning, which is unheard of for me on a Saturday. Of course, going to bed at 8:30 on a Friday is as equally unheard of. 🙂
I had the most heart-warming e-mail from Robert sitting in my inbox:
| Subject: importance
Right here, right now, I have to write how much you mean to me. Your pineapple from China, my favorite keepsake, as it reminds me of your most welcome attitude, and a giving that is “priceless.” I just want to let you know how much I love you and your family. R. |
What is the matter with people? This excerpt from a story about the man in Ohio who shot family members and then killed himself:
| “The two-story red-and-yellow wood frame home where Crawford died is located in a densely populated neighborhood. Several dozen people lined up behind yellow police tape across the street, cheering as a sheet-covered stretcher was removed from the house.” |
Cheering? All of us ought to be crying for society and our humanity at this entire tradegy. Cheering?
At a little after noon, I was getting ready to leave for a haircut when this e-mail update came in about my dad from my sister:
| All:
I wanted to update everyone on my dad. He did have a stroke, that was confirmed with a CAT scan. There was no bleeding so that was good news. All of his limbs are strong and it appears that the stroke has affected his speech. He understands all that we say to him, but he does have a hard time saying what he wants, constructing new sentences. After much frustration on all of our parts, we finally figured out he had to use the bathroom! It is going to be a challenge but he can answer yes, no, and some other things just pop right out – like, “that tastes really good” or “Oh thank God, for that” but then if he has to construct a new sentence it is quite difficult. So we are gesturing, pointing, and asking lots of “yes/no” answerable questions along with some questions to narrow down the idea. He couldn’t say what month it was or what his birth date is – but he remembers that his granddaughter is going to have another baby soon. He doesn’t know or say where he is – he is confused between Jacksonville, Greenville, and Wilmington, but hell so am I! They will discharge him either Sunday or Monday since they cannot do anything for him at this point. The regimen is blood thinner, but since he just had the GI bleed, they cannot do that. So it is go home, get speech therapy, and wait – he could have another stroke, he could not, but this will be the chess game for the rest of his time. But for now there is good news in terms of his stability, mobility, and least amount of damage to his brain. We are dealing one day at time and enjoying the time we have. Get out and enjoy the week(end). It is beautiful! Vivian Dr. Vivian Martin Covington, Director |
At about 12:30, I ran over to Costcutters for a haircut. I got the “mumbling lady,” who unfortunately likes to talk, but fortunately cuts hair well, and quickly.
At one point she asked me something, what I wasn’t sure of, but she was waiting for an answer. I thought I heard the word “shampoo,” but she was reaching for her water spray bottle, so I said, “Yes.”
After thinking about it for a couple of minutes, I figured out that she’d asked me if I wanted a quick shampoo after my haircut, as there was some sign out front about complimentary shampoos today.
After asking her to trim my eyebrows at the very end of my haircut, she said, “Let’s just jump over to the sink for your shampoo.”
“Oh is that what you meant? I thought you meant just to wet it with the spray bottle,” I feigned.
“That’s not a shampoo,” said said without actually saying silly, but definitely intimating it with her tone of voice.
“That’s okay,” I said, “I’m going right home to shower, but thanks.”
Robert and I went for a walk around Lake Johnson, where as expected, there were a lot of people enjoying the most glorious weather that today had. A lot of those people were walking dogs, too. And some very, very cute ones.
We made a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home for some hot dog buns and some potato salad.
I met several of the Twitter folks on the rooftop of @DTRaleigh‘s downtown condo, where I enjoyed some good grilled food, some adult beverages and some most excellent company.
Afterwards, I walked down to Flex for dancing, which was a lot of fun tonight.