I woke up Saturday morning, made a cup of coffee and as I sipped it I thought "odd, Michelle's not in bed and not in here". I walked to window and her Jeep was parked in her parking space, " mmm...weird" so I returned to the bedroom and found her on the floor next to the bed. Shit! I touched her and she was ice cold, double shit. "Graham, call 911 now, we need an ambulance". I shook her and felt for a pulse...nothing, triple shit, I called her name, nothing then, as I raised her arm she let out a moan. She's still alive! Yay! I covered her with fleeces and talked to her as I started moving stuff because she's a big girl and was wedged between the bed, her nightstand and a wing chair. We have a California king size bed so, there is not much room between the bed and the wall. I told my son to tell Megan to stay in her room and wait for me, then said " boy boy move your car and wait for the EMT's". They arrived within ten minutes which is the same time as it takes to get from the BRFD to our house. Kinship matters, I'll explain that later. The EMT's did their thing and gave her a glucose (or whatever it is). Her blood sugar was 32 when I checked it just before the cavalry arrived. I know a low blood sugar event well enough by now. She was taken to the ER and they fixed her and she got to go home about 6 hours later. This one was the worst so far. It's easy to tell when a diabetic has low sugar and I've always been able to get her to take peanut butter and watch over her until she stabilizes. This time there was no way to up her b.s. but, with a shot. A procedure review is under way. I'm blessed with the ability to think clearly and act in emergency situations, in spite of fear. My son performed admirably and maintained his composure, upholding the family tradition. Megan did well to, while not being directly involved, I kept her apprised as the situation and she was okay. As her father, I didn't want her to see her mother in that condition because it would have upset her more than she needed to be. She prayed.
Everything is cool. Pray for us, we need to take a whole family approach to managing my wife's condition.
Back to kinship. The folks whose families have lived in this community for generations all know one another and many are tied through marriage but, it is more than that, in effect it is a covenant community. What affects one affects us all and while not everyone may not agree with each other or even particularly like each other. We close ranks around our own. The dispatcher knew Graham because she worked for his Papa, Chief Tolbert the most respected lawman in living memory in these parts so, she immediately got things rolling. I was adopted by the community and I'm glad. It keeps me straight. Live is Good, thank you Lord.
There are simple things to do to be welcomed in these tight knit communities.
1. Mind your manners!
2. Find where the locals like to eat and go there.
3. Be polite (see rule one).
4. Introduce yourself and whoever's with you, tell them where you are from and why you are there.
5. Annnnnd, even if it's nothing special, the food is as good as your Grandma's.
Follow these and you will be an honored guest.
Behaving like an uncouth Yankee know it all, "well this isn't how we do it up North" (yes, occasionally I've heard that) will get you the stink eye and wear out your welcome in a hurry.
I wrote those guidelines because Boone was extra packed today with interlopers; ASU Homecoming, the Wooly Worm Festival in Banner Elk and Fall Color watchers. Ugh, I positively bristled at the outright lack of common courtesy on display. The most disgraceful thing was, that many were from Southern metropolises where they have abandoned their sacred and time honored traditions in favor of the pursuit of filthy lucre. I mean they tear down the statues of our heroes like the Noble Lee and desecrate the monuments to our fallen forefathers, absolutely scandalous, they have no shame; a rootless people hellbent on the destruction of all that is good. I better stop. The situation just frosts me.
Everything is cool. Pray for us, we need to take a whole family approach to managing my wife's condition.
Back to kinship. The folks whose families have lived in this community for generations all know one another and many are tied through marriage but, it is more than that, in effect it is a covenant community. What affects one affects us all and while not everyone may not agree with each other or even particularly like each other. We close ranks around our own. The dispatcher knew Graham because she worked for his Papa, Chief Tolbert the most respected lawman in living memory in these parts so, she immediately got things rolling. I was adopted by the community and I'm glad. It keeps me straight. Live is Good, thank you Lord.
There are simple things to do to be welcomed in these tight knit communities.
1. Mind your manners!
2. Find where the locals like to eat and go there.
3. Be polite (see rule one).
4. Introduce yourself and whoever's with you, tell them where you are from and why you are there.
5. Annnnnd, even if it's nothing special, the food is as good as your Grandma's.
Follow these and you will be an honored guest.
Behaving like an uncouth Yankee know it all, "well this isn't how we do it up North" (yes, occasionally I've heard that) will get you the stink eye and wear out your welcome in a hurry.
I wrote those guidelines because Boone was extra packed today with interlopers; ASU Homecoming, the Wooly Worm Festival in Banner Elk and Fall Color watchers. Ugh, I positively bristled at the outright lack of common courtesy on display. The most disgraceful thing was, that many were from Southern metropolises where they have abandoned their sacred and time honored traditions in favor of the pursuit of filthy lucre. I mean they tear down the statues of our heroes like the Noble Lee and desecrate the monuments to our fallen forefathers, absolutely scandalous, they have no shame; a rootless people hellbent on the destruction of all that is good. I better stop. The situation just frosts me.