I usually call my mom on weekdays as close to 8:10 as possible. We chit chat about the previous day’s/weekend’s events. But mostly I call to make sure she’s okay.
This morning, she didn’t answer. I called for fifteen minutes and she didn’t answer. I called the manager of the mobile home park where she lives, then I did a search through my caller ID and found the number of her neighbor from last September or October. I called her. She said she’d go up there and then call me back.
She did. Mom wasn’t answering the door. Mom’s car was there and mom wasn’t answering the door. I told her I’d be right over. I found the keys to mom’s house, called Brian (if it was something horribly awful, I didn’t want to be alone), then went over.
When I got there the manager and mom’s neighbor were in the driveway, waiting for me. I unlocked the door and we all went in. Calling for my mom. I was so afraid of how I’d find her, so very afraid. The first place I went was into her bedroom. She wasn’t there. I checked the other bedroom and then the bathroom. The other ladies checked the rest of the house. My mom was nowhere inside. And the house didn’t look like someone left in a hurry, everything was in it’s place, neat and tidy, as always. And the cats weren’t inside. Hmmm…..
Then we checked the yard, maybe she’d fallen and hit her head and couldn’t respond. We checked all over.
It was scary. My mom wasn’t around, anywhere. I asked Thelma, mom’s neighbor if she knew Joan’s phone number. Joan is another good friend of mom’s. She didn’t, but she looked over in Joan’s driveway. Joan’s car was gone.
Then it started to dawn on me. I looked at Thelma. “Did my mom have a doctor’s appointment this morning? Like maybe a pap smear?” I remember mom telling me that one of her neighbors would be taking her this time. I usually do. Thelma looked at me. “Yes, she did mention the pap smear”...
So, we figure my mom went to the doctor and Joan took her. Our phone conversation yesterday was short, due to website problems (more on that later). She didn’t remind me that she wouldn’t be there when I called. And I didn’t write down the date of her appointment. When I take her, I make a note of the date. But since I wasn’t taking her, I didn’t make that note.
So, I’m thankful that she’s alive. And I’m going to ask her to call me on mornings like these, before she leaves. Since I’m up before six, it shouldn’t be a problem.
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