Stryker, The Prescription

Feb. 19, 2007 Rhett had the day off from school for President's Day. Lucky him. I called mom to remind her of this @ 7:30 am. She called me back at 7:45 to ask if I could could call in late to take Daddy to the ER only she didn't say what was wrong with him. I worried that it was his heart. I thought it might be the flu again. At least the later is what I hoped it was and not something serious. I packed a bag for Rhett full of his games for his game boy. Even included his charger in case it went dead. I am such a good mom.

It sound like food poisoning to me but I am no dr nor do I play one on tv. =) So there I sat in the waiting room of life and death that smelled like stale urine. Catching up on my words, adding to them while I wait and wait and wait.

I did get to see an old acquaintance, Crystal, who I worked with briefly at JCP. It was nice to see her again. She came out from behind the glass and gave me a hug. I told her I hoped I didn't catch anything while I was there! At least it wasn't crowded. While I was sitting there, I received a snack bag from Cascade Hills church which I thought was very nice. It had a juice, crackers, a piece of bubble gum and a peppermint int it. That will probably go to Rhett.

While there, I finished The Dream Hunter by Sherrilyn Kenyon. By 11 am I was starting to get hungry since it was my normal lunch time. They FINALLY took Daddy back to a room beyond triage. His nurse was from Scotland. I loved listening to her talk. I called mom to let her know we would be there awhile; maybe an hour or so or until he finished his 2nd IV.









Stryker

With my book finished, I'd been wanting to draw a tree... I cannot quite master copying my left hand extended out where my fingers form the limbs. Parts of this tree I drew have some of the elements I envisioned... The tree should be feminine so I gave her a breast. Not that she has had a mastectomy or had the other one knocked off somehow! She is sturdy and strong yet graceful. Perhaps a bit softer on one side than the other. (Enter the Rebecca/Becky thing again. Rebecca being my softer side I think.) Some limbs are broken to represent a broken heart or the trials that have cost us a part of ourself. Thus the missing breast. What caused her to break? Yet she didn't wither and die. She went on. She grew strong. She regrew limb after limb. She She reached out yet remained rooted in the same stationary place and was content to be there. Of course she did not have a choice. She could not be uprooted. She could not be moved. Never thinking the grass was greener elsewhere. This was where she belonged. She withstood the winds of change, weathered every storm, survived the harshest winters only to bear her fruits each spring year after year. Her flowers were her halo she wore like a crown. No longer a princess. Even in the depth of winter when she is bare, she stands out regally from the other trees. She is quite unique. Her limbs are dark black as if they have just been rained upon. They are not faded with time. There is no moss growing on her. It wouldn't dare! She worries not about the morrow or time itself. She still thinks of herself as a young sapling. She has a purpose. To be who she is... a thing of beauty to behold. She is beholden to none. There is no other tree like her nor will there ever be again.

Althought she is stationary, she looks like a tree in motion, as if she is about to walk across the meadow with limbs thrashing about like bull whips. Her name is Stryker. She doesn't run from a fight. She is not someone you want to mess with or else you will get tangled up in her whip-cracking limbs. But it is good to have her on your side.
~By Becky Bristow Voyles~ 2/19/07 12:40 am.




Is this how it is to be in the days to come... where my parents are in the ER or the hospital and I am sitting here with them waiting, listening to the beep of machines and the sound of the heat/air flowing, writing and drawing trees? Would that make me an arborist?

We didn't leave the hospital til 4 pm! The dr said Daddy had a urinary tract infection or a prostrate. The nurse that was helping us leave said urinary tract infection. I took him home, ate something mom cooked earlier then got his scripts filled.

Don had tried to call me at work. I couldn't use my cell phone in the hospital. He was mad at me. When I tried to tell him about Daddy, he said he thought I was dead. I told him if I was dead, I would let him know by coming back to haunt him. I threw the b-cue sandwiches and beans I'd gotten him on the table and went to the bedroom. Rhett came back there asking if he could eat his sandwich now and I told him he could. I heard the sound of microwave and knew Don was heating his sandwich up. I came out of the bedroom at 8 pm. He asked me about Daddy & I told him.

The prescription: Be gentle with yourself.