Thursday, April 29, 2010

"A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" Luke 12:15

Finally, after 3 months in the hospital, the doctors said Dad could go home. He would finally be discharged on the morning of April 17th! Our whole family had spent weeks at his bedside. With great relief and in anticipation of some carefree enjoyment, my daughter Alanna and I drove to the ranch for two days of rest and relaxation.

When we arrived at the ranch, it was dark, 1:10 AM on August 17th. We walked in to find our home had been ransacked. Burglars had entered through an unlocked window. They took family heirlooms, jewelry, china, my father's gun safe and the sense of safety and security that are part of my earliest memories. Fearful that someone might still be in the house or on the property, Alanna and I and the three dogs exited quickly. 10 minutes later, we were walking in to my cousins house down the road to spend the night.

I had just kneeled down on a comfortable mattress and placed my head on a pillow, all the while processing verbally what had just transpired at the house. My cell phone rang at 1:26 AM. God quickly put this loss into perspective. The voice on the other end of the phone said, "Christie, your father is having a stroke. We need to get authorization for treatment."

Dad suffered a "classic left temporal stroke" just hours before being discharged. We got into the truck and drove back to San Francisco. Processing the burglary was put on hold.

I can only explain what follows as miraculous. The beginning of the miracle is that the hospital had wanted to discharge him on Friday. Had they done so, my father's stroke would have happened at home. Because he was in a certified stroke center, he was able to get treatment with TPA at the beginning of his stroke. He even put himself on the gurney that took him to ICU. But he quickly deteriorated. It was not looking good. He was in agony, unable to communicate and physically agitated. We were all heartbroken, including our nurses, surgeons, therapists. Everyone had worked hard these past months, getting him recovered to the point of going home. Now it would start over from the beginning, if we were lucky.

Some thirty hours after his stroke, at about 5 in the morning, my brother called to say that Dad was talking. Really talking! At 7:15 am, the phone rang. It was Dad. He asked Alanna for Grandma's cell phone number. Overjoyed is not an adequate word. "He said sweetie!" Dad is more himself than he was the day they were going to discharge him, even giving us the familiar "hang loose" sign with his right hand. We haven't seen this since before surgery. How many people have a stroke that leaves them better off than before? Neurologists can't explain it. But I can. Our God is good. He hears our prayers. He carries us when we cannot walk. He holds us in the palm of his hand. Amen.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

"It may be raining, but there's a rainbow above you" ~ The Eagles

This was the best weekend at the ranch in a very long time! Just look at that beautiful fence and gate. Thank you cousins, Gino, Becky, Tonya, Lee, and my godson, Xavier. The orchard is fertilized just in time for the rain that is due mid-week.

Life has been a bit hard lately. This fence and gate will bring back some security that took leave last week. It also reminds me that working together accomplishes much more than the task at hand. I'm thankful for the gift of time my family has given me and the sense of peace this gate returns.

"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it." ~ Margaret Thatcher

Friday, April 23, 2010

"Don't trouble trouble, till trouble troubles you." ~ Grandma Klare

The cold, wet weather this year should be good for our walnuts. They got more than their required chilling hours and all this water percolating deep down into the soil is certainly welcome! The Black Walnut trees are already leafed out.
Catkins can be seen on the English walnut trees. (Look closely and you'll see them hanging down off the twigs.) We're lucky to have late blooming Franquette variety as it snowed this past week. (Didn't stick, but still darn cold.) Wildflowers are now beginning to bloom. So beautiful here in Fair Play this time of year.

It is supposed to rain this week. We sure hope the rain doesn't interfere with pollination. But like Grandma used to say, no sense worrying about things till you need to. I'll be watching closely for those tiny little green walnuts......