Soul Food – Throw the Damn Oars Out of the Boat!
It’s been a helluva long time since I wrote a blog – way too damn long! Life happened; then life happened; then life happened again!
On the way to a beautifully planned day visit to the Marina in Vermillion, to walk the beach, to have lunch at Touche’ and bring in the celebration of my Solar Return Life Happened! I spent the next fourteen hours dealing with social workers, supervisors, more social workers, and background checkers, & fingerprinters. NOT the way I had planned to bring in my 68th birthday; that’s WHY God laughs when we make plans!
I took custody of my 12-year-old granddaughter, whom I hadn’t seen in nearly seven years. It wasn’t the pleasantest of situations that she hereby came to live with me, but it’s what needed to be done, and it was for the best and, in reality, just about the only option. The poor child had been through too much, seen too much, and basically was not safe at home and crying for help from me. I answered the call.
It took some getting used to this curveball life threw at me, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way. Was I prepared? Hell NO! Am I prepared to maybe take this situation on for another 6-7 years? Not really! Will I answer the call? Of course, I will…obviously, whether this was in my “PLAN BOOK” or not, this is how God planned it.
I cried for the next few weeks whenever I thought about this or that. Reality doesn’t set in until you’re done taking so much action; you’re running on fumes in CRISIS mode, then when you have a moment to let it all sink in, the waterfall starts.
Fast forward ALMOST a month down the road, but we still haven’t hit the 30-day mark yet. July 22nd, it’s my youngest daughter Shayna’s bridal
shower. A day every bride looks forward to (I guess) – it was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon and was hosted by a married couple she’s very close to in their spacious backyard. The day was moving along beautifully; the Sun morphed into the Moon, then Midnight came and went.
I went back to her house in Canton to spend the night, then that damn curve ball hit me right in the middle of the Bullseye! I had extreme pain, vomiting, nausea & you name it, so I had to ask my daughter to take me to the hospital. There I was in Mercy Hospital in Canton a few hours after the shower ended with a full-blown pancreatic attack. (For the record, I didn’t even drink wine that day, I had a few seltzers). I spent the next week in the hospital.
Throw the Map, the Guidebook, the Oars, and hell, you might as well throw the life preserver out of the boat. I’m not planning; I will go with the flow from here on out. When you reach 68, is there much else you can do now?
If this inspires, encourages you, or makes you pause, feel free to throw a coin in the tip jar or hit my Venmo button at the end of the blog.
Till next time, Ziggy Starrdust & I send our Love!
