I had been living with my parents to care for them, since I moved back to Columbia from Ft. Worth in 1979. In exchange, they let me live with them for free. It was a good arrangement. I was able to work and travel, but at the same time I took care of them and notified others when I would be gone.
In 1991, I was looking to go to Williamsburg with my friends Del and Chris. We wanted to go to Busch Gardens and ride roller coasters, as well as visit Jamestown. We rented a car. We got there and toured the area. After leaving Jamestown, we were almost involved in a head-on collision. The rental's battery also died. Upon getting that fixed, we went to Busch Gardens. The park was fantastic. On one roller coaster, I was going downhill toward a lake. As I was screaming, a bug flew into my mouth. It was not good for me or the bug. Adjacent to the park was the beer factory. We got to see how beer was made. At the end of the tour, they offered free samples. I had been sober for 7 years, so I declined. There was a 17 year old boy on our tour who wanted the excess samples. So, we all gave our beer to him. As we were on the trolley to take us back to the park, the boy was standing up. You could tell the beer was starting to take effect. The trolley lurched, and he fell flat on his face. It was pretty funny.
When we left Williamsburg, we decided to drive down the coast toward Myrtle Beach. It was a very long journey passing through small towns with even smaller speed limits. We finally got to our destination. We stopped at a miniature golf course. As we were playing, a thunderstorm rolled in. We ran to a nearby shelter carrying our golf clubs. Smart move. Carrying lightning rods. Thankfully, we weren't struck by lightning. We then left Myrtle Beach. The traffic was bad, so we tried to bypass it all and got hopelessly lost. We drove around the upper part of SC for quite a while until we came to I-77. Everyone has GPS now, but back then we didn't even have a map.
We got back home and went to our separate homes. The next morning, my Mother had just cooked breakfast and went in her bedroom to rest. She did that a lot. My father and I were in the living room reading the newspaper. I saw something that I thought my Mother would find interesting and went into her bedroom to read it to her. She was babbling. I couldn't understand her. I was perplexed and went back into the living room. I sat there for a minute and then remarked to Daddy that something seemed wrong with Mother. He went into her room and came out frantic. "Call 911! Get an ambulance!" I did. The ambulance came and took her to Baptist Hospital. Daddy was distraught, so I drove both of us to the hospital behind the ambulance.
When we got to the hospital, we went into the ER waiting room. Daddy was crying. I was sitting nearby, having a hard time processing what was going on. The doctor came out and told us that Mother had a massive stroke. As we were sitting there, word spread that Mother was in the hospital in serious condition. Our pastor and music minister came running into the waiting room. They went right past me to my father. They didn't even acknowledge my existence. Two church staff members came running in and saw me sitting alone. They came over to me and asked me how I was doing. I have never forgotten their kindness. I had done many things for that church. I had written Stewardship dramas. I was in the choir. I had helped organize the Singles Sunday School class. I had been on mission trips. None of that seemed to matter to some. It quite frankly hurt my feelings.
I called my brother, and he came to help. Mother stayed in the hospital for some time and then went on to HealthSouth to rehab. She got a little better over time but was never the same. I was her caregiver, and I dropped the ball. I felt guilty for years that had I acted sooner that her paralysis would not have been so bad. I just saw her condition and didn't say anything for a few minutes. The doctors told me later that my response time would not have mattered. The damage had already been done. They told me I saved her life by getting her to the hospital in time. I guess I would have to dwell on that. Also that this happened after I got back from my vacation. I think God prepared me for it by being rested. What if I was in Williamsburg when she had her stroke? I think she would have probably died that day. I live in a world of "what ifs".
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