Wedding weekend (with a temporary fam photo): amazing high while coping with an unfortuntate low

Wedding fun:  I have a few funny 'get out the door for the road trip to the wedding' stories, like Reg texting me from Omaha before he drove to KC and I was racing around packing the car - "If you haven't left yet, can you please bring me some toilet paper." 

I did not comply by bringing him 2-ply. 

Son, you have one of our cars. Stop at the damn store. What is happening?

Have egg dish, will travel. We ate this Sat
and Sun mornings. I cut it and stuck it in
 gallon size zip loc bags. Each
kid heated up what they wanted. 

Our goal was to leave at 9 am. Coach had morning patients. I slept a whopping and necessary 8 hours the night before, which was dreamy, quite literally. I'd not slept enough the night before, waking early fretting over Lad's suit and whether Mr. Communication Struggles shared pertinant info this his gf. I managed to go for my run, wash and dry my hair, load all the food in coolers, and pack for myself. We left at 9:30 - not terribly off our goal. 

My kitchen whilst babysitting Thursday.

I'd organized the fridge - necessary food on one shelf. My lists -key. I ran upstairs for the garment bags on my bed with all the dresses. Kay had offered to grab them insisted on doin. Thank goodness I did it myself . . . I stumbled across Tank's dress shirts hanging on the front hall closet door. 

Sheesh. Shenanigans, get your shit together. 

The wedding was epic. The first one for our kids aside from Lad. Sort of unfortunate, because the bar has been raised very high. The band  - well, I'm thinking a must-have at our offsprings' weddings, a national organization. I may or may not be toying with the idea of working another 5 years to secure band funds. 

Anyway, everything was beautiful and amazing. The priest knew them personally, and his message was lovely. Breathtaking day. I'm posting a pic of us, missing Ed and Curly. Lad on far left, next to his gf. Tank far right. Reg next to me. Rae in a white cardigan. Kay pink dress. Mini brown dress. We clean up OK, me thinks. (she types, shuddering to think about the preperations, including the last minute haircut I sent Reg to get a few hours before the mass. I'd considered bringing my clippers, but forgot them. He's almost 21 and this was his first prof. haircut).  

******

The low:  I got a text around 7 am Saturday. My dad lost his balance in his bathroom Friday night. Fell, landing in the tub. Asked my mom to get him a phone. She brought him everything but a phone for a . . . while? All four local sibs were out of town. A brother called 911, I think. I'm still uncertain how Nana handled paramedics taking dad, and I assume she was alone for a little while. It hurts my heart. I live 2 min away. They have daytime caregivers but not at night. Dad resisted that - didn't want daytime care either. 

I feel some guily for supporting their desire to stay in their home, assuming my sisters will blame me. But, my dear friend, Suz, pointed out that people fall in assisted living places too. True, there's no guarantee that he won't fall some place else. 

Having sisters who are unwell, angry elfs complicates this, and frankly life in general. Not new info. I can only dream about having 100% supportive and emotionally stable, consdierate sibs. 

On the other hand, I'm grateful for wonderful friends, who I reached out to after I'd digested the news. How great to count amazing blog friends as part of my squad. Crazy to think that we'd not know each other aside from stumbling on one another in the internet, you know? 

Dad broke his hip. Local hospital said he needed surgery. They transferred him to UIC in the city. Marie and husband drove in from Milwaukee. Pat came home from Indiana later in the day (?), where he was visiting his son at college.

UIC decided not to do surgery. This makes me sad, because I feel like a broken hip that they don't fix is a kiss of death. I know his days were numbered to begin with. He's 86. But is this it? Will he just slip away now? Also bummer he wasn't left at local hospital, because UIC is not easy to get to for any of us. 

Long time readers will recall Dad being thrown from a horse in Yellowstone about 10 years ago. We thought he'd die then. All that to say, he's a fighter. I guess Marie/Pat couldn't be with him while he was in the ER waiting for a room for most of the day. But staff said he was asking when Notre Dame played. Positive sign? He's lucid. He's himself. 

I read the text Sat morning, and sobbed in my bed for awhile. Then I told Coach: We will say nothing to anyone. This will be shared Sunday. Not today. 

Coach had already texted his folks to pray for dad, so I said, That's fine. Text them back and say we aren't telling our kids yet. We will all enjoy the wedding. (damn it)

That's what we did. My in laws did mention it to a few of Coach's siblings, but his sibs were discreet, showing their support and asking for updates. 

We hosted the between-events aka layover party at our VRBO. It was a blast. All Coach's sibs and all their kids and his folks were there. Lad and his GF were there. Everyone appreciated the food and drink and space to relax. Once the 9-kid cousin family arrived, I video chatted Curly. I'd asked her if it would make her sad to see everyone, like FOMO, but she said she'd be fine. She had a party to go to Saturday night anyway. 

I saw her smiling face, and her bestie cousin hollered, CURRRRLLY! I handed cousin the phone and slipped out on the empty deck and balled my eyes out. I think it was everything - missing her at the event, but mostly knowing that Sunday I'd have to explain Da's condition. I've always suspected that attending a distant college would be hard when health issues or loss of life crop up for her four elderly grandparents.  (How blessed to be 18 and have all 4 grandparents?)

Coach's sis is a social worker in a nursing home, and she was a good recousce Saturday, saying this might not necessarily be the end for him. 

I'm drafting this while we (and by 'we' I mean Coach) drive home, and Ed called to tell us about his gf's sis wedding. "Might be the best night of my life." He described the venue - very high end - floor to ceiling windows overlooking the skyline and all the special touches. Mini whispered to me:  Wait, how do we communicate that the wedding we were at was better than his?" 

Shenanigans are a competitve people, and a comedic group. Tank was trying to set my laptop up on his hotspot for me. When he handed it back to me, he had it open to the Miralax home page. 

*****

Highs and lows from your weekend? Do you prefer a band or a DJ at a wedding?