(This is the first in a series reflecting on how life changed in a way that was–and still is five years later–unfathomable to me.)
There is a saying: people plan, God laughs.
Heck of a sense of humor, if that’s the case. Terry and I had plans. They didn’t align with His.
Life took a turn for the unfathomable, a journey that has lasted almost five years, late Thursday morning, March 26, 2020.
I was in the third year of my retirement, had a novel published, and was ticking off items on my bucket list–including a few days at spring training in 2018 and a trip to Chicago to see Wrigley Field in 2019. Most importantly, I was making up to Terry for all the time she had spent caring for the kids and for the house while I was coaching baseball.
I had always been dog-resistant, but Terry had grown up with a pet dog, and every once in a while, she would ask about getting one. With retirement approaching and Terry no longer working, she pressed the issue. Not only did she still want a dog, she wanted a Golden Doodle.
When we were tipped off by an acquaintance who worked at Last Chance Ranch that a Golden Doodle had arrived, Terry pressed the issue. We had to make a quick decision because several people had scheduled visits with the dog after us.
I acquiesced, and we brought home Leo a couple of days later. Terry was so happy to have that dog, that I regretted not agreeing to get a dog earlier. Retirement was going to be different.
Unfortunately, Leo passed away on December 8, 2019–in what, in retrospect, was tragic foreshadowing–and we got another dog, Rio, in February. I would rather have waited until June,, but Terry ruled. She deserved it. I was going to make sure she was able to do what she wanted to do.
Terry celebrated her 65th birthday on March 21 by going to New York with friends to see a play. COVID was on the cusp of shutting down society, but had not completely done so yet.
On the 26th, I went out for a walk with my exercise partner, Vicki, starting and ending up at my house. Vicki got in her car and drove home, and I went into the house. I found Terry, immobile, two steps from the top of the stairs leading to the second floor.
She told me she couldn’t make it to the top; she felt too weak.
I assisted her the rest of the way and sat her down on a stool just inside our bedroom. We discussed our options, but it became obvious that she wasn’t going to be able to get back down the stairs, let alone get into a car, so we called for an ambulance.
While we were waiting, Terry fell off the stool and could not get up. She didn’t hurt herself but that is the way the EMTs found her. They stretchered her up and took her to Grandview Hospital.
I wasn’t allowed past the ER doors because of COVID. I sat in my car in the parking lot until I got a call from a nurse saying that Terry was going to be admitted.
I went home and sat on the bedroom floor with my back against the bed and cried tears of fear. Rio sat next to me. Then I made my phone calls.
The trek had just begun.
The Q-View 