So July and August were turning out to be very fun months! I was enjoying real time with my family, I was reorganizing my apartment, having sleepovers with the kids, doing lots of songwriting camps and things were looking up. Thank God! I honestly don´t think I could have taken one more day of solitude!
August 30 – I was in a very positive frame of mind, and was scheduling my last sleepover with the youngest family member, little Jacob, who was two at the time. We got to my place in the afternoon, unpacked everything and then headed to the grocery store to get something for dinner. He had to wear mittens (in the summer) and a mask because of Covid. The little mask was really cute though, it was a little dog mask. He skipped along, singing away, started running and as usual, wiped out. He cried and cried, saw the blood on his knee and then I though he was going to pass out lol. But, I told him he had to be strong – like a super hero – and try to make it to the grocery store and back. He said he couldn´t, but I told him I knew he could. He did and by the time we got home, he was smiles again, hopping around. He was VERY excited to be with me, he had never had a sleepover before and I wasn´t even sure he´d be able to get through the night without getting homesick.
We had dinner. He told me it was the best dinner he´s ever had and he also told me I was really pretty 🙂 I said thank you and told him he was a pretty handsome kid himself! Then he was ready for his treats and a movie and a couple hours later he was tucked in bed, out like a light. He did it! WE did it! His very first sleepover! I wondered what his reaction was when he woke up the next morning and realized he wasn´t at his place. I was looking forward to making him some breakfast, going for a walk, and then blasting Sunflower by Post Malone for him on the way back home. Then it would be MY time. I was definitely ready to do a road trip to see Mom. I was really looking forward to it. Just to sit outside in the sun without the business. Just us 🙂
It was a really busy day and I just sat down to relax for a bit. Cleaned up and got ready to retire for the night and then I checked my phone.
8:30 pm: I got a text from my sister, ¨Hey Carol, have you talked to Mom this afternoon?¨ Then my other sister called. No one had talked to Mom since late afternoon that day, August 30th. I sat down, head spinning, trying to make sense of the meaning behind that text. What did she mean? Was she worried? Did something happen? Was there something I needed to know? Then my other sister called me. No one had seen Mom since the afternoon and everyone has tried calling her with no answer.
Then my head started pounding and my heart wouldn´t slow down. Where was she? What was going on? I began racing in my head… what do I do? Do I call her? I called her. No answer. I left her a message telling her I was just wondering if she was OK. I loved her, and call me back. Maybe she was visiting her brother. That had to be it! They probably went for a drive or something. Common sense… common sense Carolyn! I called the retirement home and asked if my Mom was there. I think the lady was confused, because apparently her brother was taken to the hospital and so maybe that´s where Mom was.
10:08 pm: Another text from my sister, ¨At hospital.¨