Monday, May 10, 2010

Never a dull moment at the Dunlop household

Well I had my week all planned out.  Today would be off visitting with a friend who lives 20 minutes away.  Then tomorrow my dad was going to come and bring the rototiller and work up a garden spot for me.  Then Wednesday I have a friends little girl for the day and I was going to start planting some of my garden.  Thursday I have the little girl again and we would play outside and I would patiently watch over the garden and the Friday is just Jacob and I so maybe we might go to the pool or something.
So by the title you can guess that my week is not going as I planned.  I did go to my friends this morning, we had a great time visitting and watching the kids play outside.  Then we went inside for some yummy homemade chicken noodle soup.  Shortly after lunch I got a text from my mom asking if I was still at my friends, I was.  Then she sent another text but before I could read it she also called.  Turns out my dad, who is almost 60, was riding his prized horse and got bucked off, he needed to go to the hospital.  So I finished eating; I'm not that callous, he had called my brother first and my brother was going to meet me, I was halfway to Bonnyville, so I had time to eat.  Then I put Jacob down for a nap and left him with my friend then went to meet my brother to take my dad to the hospital.  Why could my brother not just take him you ask?  Well it was my nieces mother's day tea at school so his wife was going to be at the school and he had to be with the other two kidlets.  So anyways, back to me and my dad.  We get to the hospital and they send him for x-rays.  He's sure that he hasn't broke anything, he thinks that he just rolled off the wrong way and that he tore the muscles in between his ribs.  Now my dad has been riding his whole life pretty much.  He has had numerous falls, breaks, bumps, etc.  He usually is pretty right though in his self-diagnosing, when he broke his leg in 4 places he made no qualms about going to the hospital, he knew something was wrong.  Or when he broke his pelvis 3 years ago, again he knew he had to go in.
So we wait for the x-ray results.  Now my mom used to work at this hospital and everyone is very familiar with her.  When the doctor walks in and says "Ken I don't think Doris is going to be very impressed with you" you just know that isn't a good sign.  He fractured 5 ribs and punctured his lung so there is a small hole that is releasing air into his body so he had to be transferred to Edmonton to have a tube placed in his lung or the air pocket, I can't remember so that the air pocket goes away.
So needless to say, no rototiller and no garden this week.  That's okay though, I got to spend the afternoon with my dad, even if it was in the hospital.  I am very aware that the only thing that is guaranteed in this life is death and so when I do get to have some time with my parents I appreciate it.  I do see them often, my mom comes for lunch everyday, but I don't always get one on one with my dad, so I appreciate it.
He was so concerened about the fact that I had left Jacob and was very worried about how he would be when he woke up from his nap and I wasn't there.  As predicted, he was fine, but when dad called tonight he still asked how he was and if he had been upset.  A grandfather's love is just as precious as a mother's.

1 comment:

Jen said...

Hope your dad it OK. I know what you mean about appreciating any and all time you get with your parents. It's incredibly important, I agree. And I agree, a grandfather's love is just as precious as a mother's - I hope that I am able to experience that with my dad someday. :)