NDE

[IainH]

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.

[Ed Hurst]

I love your rants, Iain. First, because it tells me you are alive and well. Second, because they tend to be right about the ills of our world. We can see it, but not always with the same eyes. It's refreshing to hear from you, Brother. Doubly so because you've shared with us the things we would want to know if we were neighbors in the flesh, not just virtually. May the Lord bring peace for what He's doing with Michelle.

[IainH]

I love your rants, Iain. First, because it tells me you are alive and well. Second, because they tend to be right about the ills of our world. We can see it, but not always with the same eyes. It's refreshing to hear from you, Brother. Doubly so because you've shared with us the things we would want to know if we were neighbors in the flesh, not just virtually. May the Lord bring peace for what He's doing with Michelle.

Thank yeeewww. Spoken in the high nasal Hillbilly dialect, I'm more bassier but, I say it thataway like aw shucks but not quite. It's derived from TAGS in "my fair Ernest T". Where Andy tries to pass off E T Bass as a sophisticate. I say it when someone I know does something for me that they didn't have to. It saves face for both people. Aw crap! This gets into the fine grit of mountain culture that baffles outsiders but, we get and can't explain for a bag of wet nickels. I'm trying to wordelize the whole shebang in a way people unfamiliar with our folkways can understand. How do you explain "it's the way it's done". That's where my blog idey originated.

[jaybreak]

Thanks for the updates, Iain. Good to see you post here again.

Everything I learned about low blood sugar, I learned from the Godfather and my uncle and his insulin shots.

You won't have to worry about me coming that far down south. The furthest I've been is VA somewhere, and even then it was for only half a day. I'm not really the traveling type.

[forrealone]

Thank you, Jesus!  I have been meaning to PM you but, alas, my burdens weighed me down far more than they should have and I have not.  I am SO grateful to hear from you and the God blessed outcome of your family's scary moment.  Praise the Lord!

And, yes, I get the disgust in your words about how people, even our 'own', who have lost the right way to treat each other with respect and compassion.  I am happy to know that your community is a true one.  I am blessed to live in a neighborhood that cares about each other and immediately comes to the other's aid whenever a situation calls for it.

God bless you, Iain and your family. 

And, please do keep in touch with us more often.  Though we may be remiss at times to check in with each other ourselves, at least we all know "We are Family"!

Love you, brother!

[IainH]

Thanks for the updates, Iain. Good to see you post here again.

Everything I learned about low blood sugar, I learned from the Godfather and my uncle and his insulin shots.

You won't have to worry about me coming that far down south. The furthest I've been is VA somewhere, and even then it was for only half a day. I'm not really the traveling type.

I'm sorry to hear that. But, then again you might love it and youd have to move and you don't want to uproot your family.
Note. When I say Yankee I'm speaking of that peculiar New Englander Puritanical trait of busybodyness and is not confined to a geographic location besides Pennsylvania wasn't colonized by East Anglians.

---

Thank you, Jesus!  I have been meaning to PM you but, alas, my burdens weighed me down far more than they should have and I have not.  I am SO grateful to hear from you and the God blessed outcome of your family's scary moment.  Praise the Lord!

And, yes, I get the disgust in your words about how people, even our 'own', who have lost the right way to treat each other with respect and compassion.  I am happy to know that your community is a true one.  I am blessed to live in a neighborhood that cares about each other and immediately comes to the other's aid whenever a situation calls for it.

God bless you, Iain and your family. 

And, please do keep in touch with us more often.  Though we may be remiss at times to check in with each other ourselves, at least we all know "We are Family"!

Love you, brother!

Right back at you, sis.

[IainH]

Gadzooks Jay! I didn't mean to insult Pennsylvanians by saying they were from East Anglia, my bad. The Puritans were from East Anglia, the mid Atlantic states were settled by folks from the English Midlands. The Southern Tidewater region was settled by Southern English and the backwoods by Scots Irish, plain old Scots, some Welsh and northern Englishsters. Also some Germans and Jews in North and South Carolina. Each contributing to the development of distinct regional cultures. The idea of a single American culture is and always has been bunk.

[jaybreak]

Gadzooks Jay! I didn't mean to insult Pennsylvanians by saying they were from East Anglia, my bad. The Puritans were from East Anglia, the mid Atlantic states were settled by folks from the English Midlands. The Southern Tidewater region was settled by Southern English and the backwoods by Scots Irish, plain old Scots, some Welsh and northern Englishsters. Also some Germans and Jews in North and South Carolina. Each contributing to the development of distinct regional cultures. The idea of a single American culture is and always has been bunk.

I actually grew up in Massachusetts, so I don't mind you badmouthing Pittsburgh or PA. I actually don't mind you badmouthing New Englanders, either. They can be a stuffy lot, and really conservative and stingy with employment--I had to move to find a "career" job. If you're a little bit not what they expect, you won't find gainful Bachelor-degree level employment in New England.

[IainH]

Gadzooks Jay! I didn't mean to insult Pennsylvanians by saying they were from East Anglia, my bad. The Puritans were from East Anglia, the mid Atlantic states were settled by folks from the English Midlands. The Southern Tidewater region was settled by Southern English and the backwoods by Scots Irish, plain old Scots, some Welsh and northern Englishsters. Also some Germans and Jews in North and South Carolina. Each contributing to the development of distinct regional cultures. The idea of a single American culture is and always has been bunk.

I actually grew up in Massachusetts, so I don't mind you badmouthing Pittsburgh or PA. I actually don't mind you badmouthing New Englanders, either. They can be a stuffy lot, and really conservative and stingy with employment--I had to move to find a "career" job. If you're a little bit not what they expect, you won't find gainful Bachelor-degree level employment in New England.

Living where I do, I've had the opportunity to observe the peculiarities of the Yankee as they colonize Watauga county, NC. This led me to the question "why are these people so different and why are they so condescending, critical and dismissive of the existing culture as backward? Why do they want to enact the very same policies that ruined the places they left?" I have no answer to the latter question but, I now have an explanation for the former. Now if I was to badmouth them I would say "Yankee's are self righteous assholes who believe it is their mission to intervene and force their ideas on everyone else, thereby creating a better world" The Nationist ideal of one nation, indivisible and a single "American" culture is a Yankee invention dating back to the Revolutionary period; Globalism is merely an extension of this ideology. Both are rooted in New England. These comments are generalizations and the issues are complex and multifaceted. I also believe that federalism, decentralization, a limited government prohibited from exceeding its enumerated powers (the 10th Amendment: Enforced),with religious, personal and political liberty would provide, in the civilization that ain't going anywhere soon, a place where you and I and our progeny can practice their religion in accordance with their convictions without being persecuted for being weird. These values are found in the Southern tradition which, is constantly under attack by both the Nationists and Globalists. Unfortunately, some of the most strident Nationalists are, in fact, Southern politicians.

[jaybreak]

Gadzooks Jay! I didn't mean to insult Pennsylvanians by saying they were from East Anglia, my bad. The Puritans were from East Anglia, the mid Atlantic states were settled by folks from the English Midlands. The Southern Tidewater region was settled by Southern English and the backwoods by Scots Irish, plain old Scots, some Welsh and northern Englishsters. Also some Germans and Jews in North and South Carolina. Each contributing to the development of distinct regional cultures. The idea of a single American culture is and always has been bunk.

I actually grew up in Massachusetts, so I don't mind you badmouthing Pittsburgh or PA. I actually don't mind you badmouthing New Englanders, either. They can be a stuffy lot, and really conservative and stingy with employment--I had to move to find a "career" job. If you're a little bit not what they expect, you won't find gainful Bachelor-degree level employment in New England.

Living where I do, I've had the opportunity to observe the peculiarities of the Yankee as they colonize Watauga county, NC. This led me to the question "why are these people so different and why are they so condescending, critical and dismissive of the existing culture as backward? Why do they want to enact the very same policies that ruined the places they left?" I have no answer to the latter question but, I now have an explanation for the former. Now if I was to badmouth them I would say "Yankee's are self righteous assholes who believe it is their mission to intervene and force their ideas on everyone else, thereby creating a better world" The Nationist ideal of one nation, indivisible and a single "American" culture is a Yankee invention dating back to the Revolutionary period; Globalism is merely an extension of this ideology. Both are rooted in New England. These comments are generalizations and the issues are complex and multifaceted. I also believe that federalism, decentralization, a limited government prohibited from exceeding its enumerated powers (the 10th Amendment: Enforced),with religious, personal and political liberty would provide, in the civilization that ain't going anywhere soon, a place where you and I and our progeny can practice their religion in accordance with their convictions without being persecuted for being weird. These values are found in the Southern tradition which, is constantly under attack by both the Nationists and Globalists. Unfortunately, some of the most strident Nationalists are, in fact, Southern politicians.

Probably true, re: us Yankees and the nationalism thing, although I wouldn't classify it as nationalism necessarily. There's too many different cultures, and the cultures can sometimes be too different from one another, for the union to be a real nation. I've always called it an intra-empire: an empire, internally, because only the rule of law, and everything that comes with it, can really keep all of these varying regional subcultures and subnations (states) cohesive. It's fragility is pretty noticeable.