It's just stuff.

My hard drive crashed this week at a very inopportune time.  Not that there is ever a good time for your hard drive to crash, but this felt like especially poor timing. I was heading out of town to visit family and I had two deadlines for research I have been working on.  The morning it happened I had already woken an hour late and proceeded to spend 2 hours on the phone with Apple Care specialists who told me that there was nothing more they could do without seeing my computer in person (in St. Louis).  I was then 3 hours late and racing to pack and get my dog to the boarding facility in time to drive the 30 minutes to pick mom up from Columbia only to drive her BACK to Jefferson City for her dental appointment.  A dental appointment that we had been waiting months for.

The day before I had given the assisted living facility careful instructions on my mom's appointment.

1.) Please make sure she is dressed and ready to go (mentally ready being the most important)
2.) Please have a list of her medications ready for me to bring
3.) Please have her midday medications prepared so she can take them with lunch when we eat

I was late and anxious and frustrated with every slow driver on the road.  When I walked through the doors to get my mom she stood up excitedly "You're here!!" she said.  She is always so very excited to see me when I come to visit.  I didn't hear her excitement or see the happiness on her face.  Instead I saw her inside-out pants and 4 layers of shirts.  I saw that no one had prepared her for her visit to the doctor.  I quickly grabbed her and hustled her to the bedroom.  We changed in record time (much to her chagrin and confusion), and we were off.  I stopped by the nurses station on my way out.  They hadn't prepared anything for her, no meds list, no medication, they didn't even know she was leaving.  I was frustrated and late, and hot, and tempermental, and everyone could sense it.  I hastily gave them the fax number for the doctor and requested they PLEASE send the med list ahead of me so that I didn't get scolded when I arrived in Jeff City.

We hopped in the car and zoomed out of the drive and onto the highway to get to mom's appointment.  Mom knew I was stressed.  She was silent for the first few minutes and I immediately felt guilty that I hadn't greeted her with more excitement.  I told her how happy I was to see her and how pretty she looked... but I didn't know what else to say.  I needed to concentrate on driving.  I switched on the oldies station and prayed for a song that would make the drive less intense.  My prayers were answered...



As the song started I began to immediately feel less stressed.  I looked over at mom and literally cracked up laughing.  She was head-bobbing and rocking out to this song as if it were a live performance and she was in the front row.  I listened to the lyrics (between my sweet dance-driving moves) and the stresses and anxiety of the day were gone:

"I just want to celebrate another day of livin', I just want to celebrate another day of life"

• We were late for the appointment... who cares, people can wait
• Her med list wasn't there when we arrived... who cares, it just took a phone call
• The doctor made no logical conclusions and pushed us off to another visit... who cares, we had fun riding together
• My hard drive was lost... who cares, it's just stuff (ok... maybe I am still struggling with this one)

Regardless of the crazy events of the day, I was with my very best friend.  She was just happy to celebrate another day of living and why shouldn't I feel the same way?  We decided to celebrate the day with Ryan's buffet (mom's favorite).  A full meal of whatever her heart desired, followed by a dessert sampler plate, hand-picked by me for mom's eating pleasure.  As she took a big bite of coconut cream pie, we caught each others eye.  This time I took a moment to appreciate the excitement she expressed at being with me.  This time I celebrated it.