A Near Miss So Far

Big This was the way it looked Sunday, but even though I haven’t been back down to take photos since then a glance out my window tells me it is somewhat improved outside.  The predicted storm with the additional inches of the stuff seems to have missed us, even though it is bitterly cold out there.  I made it to the funeral home on Monday morning but reality set in very fast. It’s one thing to take a photo from up here, or even from the entrance while still in the warmer area around the door, quite another to actually get out in the wind and frigid air!

I had to be downstairs by 7:30 am to wait for the bus to take me, hoping they would wait until close to the correct time of arrival — 8:30.  No such luck on the later time though, he was waiting when I got to the window to watch for him.  Probably a good thing though, because when I went out I saw more ice on the entry than I wanted to drive over.  My drier moved the bus closer but there were several spots I still had to go across, toes crossed along with fingers, legs, arms and eyes — not sure, but I think even my hair roots were crossed for that couple of feet of ice.  My cell rang while I was getting on the bus but I ignored it until safely inside.  The number wasn’t familiar but i called it back as a precaution against missing some important message from family.  It was another bus driver, asking if I was still going. Okay!  One trip but two drivers? I told him I was already on the bus and we were leaving, and he said I was on his schedule.  I don;t think I ever felt so wanted, even when two people were asking me to dance at the same time.  A few minutes later the driver who picked me up got a call from dispatch informing him the manifest he was using was wrong, and he had picked up the old one,  Okay, so I had two drivers due to a mistake, better than sitting at the window for an hour and getting there five minutes after it was over.  Of course, arriving before the door was unlocked at the funeral home wasn’t the greatest thing, but they let me in, even moving the hearse so I didn’t have to sit behind it until it was at the church.   Not a bad way to start considering the fact that just going out the door gave me some sinus problems!  Nothing like a drippy nose in -5 temps.

So, I sat there with Uncle Sam for about 40 minutes, wondering who would finally show up, then looked up when I heard voices to see my brother come in with one of my cousins.  Big Bro drove in from Lexington that morning, despite the forecast of more and worse on the way.  I thought maybe he had more sense than that, but I was wrong once before in my lifetime.  Mama Ree got there next, fussed at him for me, then hugged him while looking around his tall (6’8″) frame for me.  BTW, she is 5’2″ tall, so she had quite a job seeing around him.  Once in my lifetime I was almost the same height he was, but that was a day or two ago.  I’m getting shorter, 5’6″ last time I checked, about an inch shorter than I used to be.

As people arrived I could tell it would not be a good idea for me to go on to the church. I knew the trip out last week had not done me any real harm, just a lot of discomfort in the sit-down and my stamina — to say the least, I was already tired even though I hadn’t done anything but get dressed.  Several years ago I made a cross stitch picture for my Mom on her birthday that had an old gray haired woman in a red jogging suit. The caption was:  “Growing old ain’t for sissies”.  Well, growing old with MS is sometimes even worse.  Okay, so anyway I decided that for safety sake I really should get home asap!  I wanted to tell Mama Ree goodbye, but just when I thought it wouldn’t happen without mowing down a roomful of people Diane came out of the crowd with her.  I have the best cousins in the world!  The bus arrived within minutes, this time with the right driver, and he had me home before the starch was completely out of my system.

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