2023 Life Logs, Day 240: New Hill to Mooresville to Huntersville and Home
Date: Sunday, August 27, 2023
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Late Day Thunderstorm; High 97, Low 76 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
The party is over. This morning I packed up my sister, myself, and my niece Janet while Rex, Diana, Rachel, and her two children, Kit and Emma, got ready to drive home to West Virginia. Diana and Rex got the left-over food packed up and we all pitched in to follow the Airbnb directions for checking out. Because this was such a huge home, it was a bigger job than usual, but we were all on the road by 11 am. Janet was picked up by a friend who was driving her back to Nashville, and Patsy and I headed back to Terra Bella in Mooresville, the assisted living facility where she lives. I got her unpacked and settled in just as her home helper who spends four hours with her every afternoon and early evening arrived.
The helper today was Renee. I met her last Wednesday for the first time, and she is a perfect fit for my sister. She replaced a woman named Edie who we all loved, and thought could never be replaced. Edie is my age, but Renee is half that and looks like a teenager. She is soft spoken, caring, and yet firm in getting my sister to walk about with her and go to dinner everyday even though my sister is always resistant. She hates the food at Terra Bella and thinks having breakfast and lunch is enough. But because she is diabetic, going without food from noon until the next morning is just not acceptable. I am so grateful the agency was able to find a young woman that is working out great. And that made saying farewell to my sister a little easier. The three of us sat together and looked at the photos and videos from the wedding before I left. Patsy really enjoyed reliving the wedding evening where she danced the night away and Renee enjoyed seeing photos of members of Patsy’s family and learning a little more about them.
I lingered a little too long at my sister’s and then had to rush to drive south about 20 minutes to my nephew’s home in Huntersville. It is on the way to the airport, and I had a cooler full of food that Rex could not take home that I wanted to give to Tommy and Marilou. I also wanted to say hello to Ginny and Bob, Marilou’s parents who now live with Tommy and Marilou. Ginny and Bob are both in their nineties and have medical issues and can no longer live alone. Marilou’s mother’s health has declined rapidly in the past few weeks, so much so that Marilou could not leave them to go to the wedding. Marilou had hosted a shower for the bride, went with her to pick out her wedding dress, and both of her daughters were in the wedding. It was really too bad that she could not come to enjoy the affair. She had already seen photos on Facebook posted by Rachel, but she and Ginny and Bob also enjoyed looking at my photos.
But as we were looking at the photos, the sky outside suddenly turned black, and the trees were more than swaying in the wind. That was my cue to bid farewell and get to the airport ASAP.
As I drove to the airport, there were sprinkles and lots of thunder and shockingly bright lightning. As I arrived in the Rental Car Return garage, the rain started pouring down, but I did not have to walk outside in it to get to the Terminal. My flight was scheduled for 8 pm, so I arrived two hours early. What I had forgotten was that at 6 pm, only one security check-in is open and it is at the opposite end of the airport from where I needed to check in. I don’t know how far it is, but when I checked-in, the young woman took one look at me and asked I wanted assistance getting to the security check-in and then the 25-minute walk from there to the gate for my departing flight. I did this walk in April when I was there. I knew I could do it, so I reluctantly declined the wheelchair. I didn’t get to my departing gate until 7:15 pm, and I walked that entire time. Next time I might take wheelchair assistance! The 8 pm flight was delayed by 15 minutes and there were a few bumpy moments as we flew through the storm, but otherwise, my return home went smoothly, and I slept the whole way. I caught the 11 pm bus to Braintree (which didn’t arrive until 11:20) where my car was parked, walked with my luggage and backpack to the far end of the parking lot, and drove home arriving here at 1:30 pm. Considering some of the horror stories I have heard about flight delays this summer, I was thankful for the smooth trip, both going down and coming back. Thank you, Spirit Airlines. I give them an A+ for this trip.
