It was supposed to be a quiet evening. It was supposed to be relaxing. But Kahle evenings rarely ever go as planned. Thursday night was no exception.
HGTV was on in the background, I was at my computer and Rick was half-asleep in his big ol’ recliner. I had just sent out an email to a friend when the phone rang. Usually our caller ID shows up on our television screen but this time it didn’t. Odd. But that insured that we had to pick up the phone. We didn’t know who was calling. Rick got to it first and after the usual ‘hello’ he passed it to me. “It’s Liz.”
I reached for the phone and was met with absolute hysteria. Nearly unintelligible sobs and screams… but I was able to determine that Elizabeth was sick. Very sick. And she was alone.
I was unable to calm her down but I did convince her to lay down and I would find help. I asked if she needed an ambulance and she yelled a very deliberate YES. I hung up and called the lobby of her apartment. David answered and tried to make sense of what I was babbling to him. Bonnie, Liz’ roommate, normally works at the front desk but she was not there at the moment. So I asked David to head to their apartment and assess the situation and call an ambulance, if necessary. And he did.
The next ½ hour was spent with me on the phone trying to reach my good friend Sally, who lives nearby in Tucson, and staying on the phone, in constant contact with the folks trying to help my daughter. The bottom fell out of my world when David called me back asking what he should do with Liz’ cell phone since she was non-responsive now. He wasn’t sure if he should send it with her or leave it in her apartment. I convinced him to send it with her even though it might get mislaid. Fortunately, it didn’t.
I discovered what hospital Liz was headed to and I managed to reach Sally and send her there. Bonnie, the roommate was now headed to the hospital as well. Liz may not have made many friends yet, but the two that are with her in Tucson are gems.
The rest of the evening was spent with Liz in the ER and me in Frisco, trying desperately to catch a flight to Tucson that night. It was just not going to happen… Friday morning was the next best thing.
Liz couldn’t have picked a busier weekend for me. But I was able to move or cancel all of my plans or get my duties covered at every place that I needed to be. The children’s choir at church was going to be covered by Rick (he was staying home to take care of Midnight and keep the costs down on this last minute jaunt to Tucson), the ladies table at the Women’s Ministry event on Monday night would get decorated by Carol and Alissa… and the decorations that I had at my house would hopefully be picked up by one of them on Saturday. I called in absent to work, but instructed one of my coworkers to come to my house to pick up the dress that she was borrowing. And I sent out a lot of prayer requests. And I packed. And I monitored Liz’ progress.
After working and working to arrange a flight, a car and a hotel and getting myself packed and organized, I finally got to bed at 12:30… only to be awakened by Rick at 5:55… because he’d fallen on this way to the bathroom.
And how was your Thursday evening?
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