Now Family As Close As A Heartbeat
It’s no wonder my friends with out-of-state parents are envious. My parents live near me in Coeur d’Alene now and I have the peace of mind and heart I didn’t have when they were out of reach.
I wanted them closer than California for years. They finally moved four months ago. Last week, my parents and I learned how right that move was.
The ambulance hadn’t left my parents’ driveway before a friend called me at work to tell me my dad was heading for the hospital. She lives across the street from them. I didn’t know she knew those two friendly people are my parents.
My mother was amazed to see me waiting when she arrived at Kootenai Medical Center. After 30 years in California, she isn’t used to a small community where people look out for each other.
It was his heart again. My dad’s heart is as big as Alaska and as soft as a down pillow. He keeps it strong, too, with steady exercise. But his arteries stink.
His pain was a warning that a heart attack was imminent. Doctors sent him to Sacred Heart Medical Center by helicopter. He was alert and thrilled at the ride and view, but his excitement vanished as the green walls of his hospital room closed in on him.
My dad had a similar experience 18 years ago. He was living near Los Angeles and went to a top-notch downtown hospital for his triple bypass. He was only 49.
My mother doesn’t drive and rode a bus several hours a day to see him. She braved the ordeal alone because my sister and I had left to start our own lives. I remember the distant, disconnected feeling.
This time, we went through it together. I squeezed her hand and wept with her as the helicopter swept away with Dad. We drove to Spokane as many times as we needed to know he wasn’t in distress or lonely.
We waited together during his crucial quadruple bypass. We hugged and cried and ate chocolate desserts together after the surgery went well.
My dad was out of surgery only 20 minutes when I kissed his forehead and whispered that I love him. I was so grateful for that moment. I knew then, without a doubt, how right it is for us to be close together.
And they know it, too.
Toy time
Don’t fret if you want to buy that plush teddy bear but have no one to give it to. Toys for Tots is collecting Christmas presents for needy children until Dec. 10. The Marine Corps Reserve runs the program and is getting help this year from Parts Plus stores in Wallace, Pinehurst, Post Falls and St. Maries.
Those toys bring smiles to a lot of Panhandle children. Call (800) 824-7746, Ext. 203, for a donation box near you.
The key to Christmas shopping…
St. Maries’ Michele Reynolds had no trouble remembering her worst Christmas shopping experience. It was 1978, she was eight months pregnant and had her 2-year-old son with her at an out-of-the-way gift shop in Medford, Ore.
After shopping, she dashed to her car through pouring rain only to find she’d locked her keys in the car. She carried baby and packages back to the store, but the clerk said the phone wasn’t for public use.
Michele’s only other option was to trudge across a four-lane highway in the rain with baby and packages to a car dealership. When a man there politely asked if he could help her, she burst into tears.
He found her a chair, gave her coffee and called her husband for her. Guess there really is a Santa…
Twinkle art
Who do you know who plans the outdoor Christmas decorations months ahead, buys miles of lights in every variety and treats the neighborhood to an eye-dazzling display every winter?
Shed some light on these artistic types for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; FAX to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes