2007
Great Aunt Lucy, my paternal grandmother’s youngest sister, was due for a visit. I tried to visit often as she was such a delight and was in her late 90s. My mother wanted to go along and Uncle Clem, my father’s oldest brother, and Effie wanted to be involved also. They were all in their eighties and enjoyed Aunt Lucy. So I came up with a plan. I picked up Mom and off we went from Stockton to Fremont to pick up Lucy. On a Saturday this was just under two hours as traffic was not the usual hectic mess. Mom and I left early to have time to pick up Lucy and make it to Clem and Effie’s at Rossmoor to pick them up in time for lunch. Ambitious plan but doable and all five of us could be involved with delays.
When Mom and I arrived at Lucy’s door at the Masonic Home for Adults in Fremont, Lucy was not her usual perky self. She had awakened with more pain than usual and had taken an extra pain medication. I questioned the wisdom of her continuing on our visit to Clem and Effie. She insisted she would get better and to please take her. At this point in her life, Lucy needed a wheelchair as she was unsteady on her feet. She had danced her hips away to a non-reliable support system. She got herself into her portable wheel chair and brought her purse full of medications and various other supplements needed to get her through a day. We signed her out and put her in the passenger seat in front and placed her wheelchair in my trunk.
Within an hour we arrived at Clem and Effie’s home at Rossmoor, which was not built with wheelchairs in mind. I got the wheelchair out of the trunk and loaded Lucy into it for the short ride to Clem and Effie’s stairs leading down to their front door. Fortunately I was strong as I turned Lucy’s chair around and took her down the stairs. We visited for a short time and then I had to get Lucy up the several stairs to return to the car. Uncle Clem helped but I had to do most of the lifting, as Clem with all of his strength was no longer in his prime. Lucy was returned to the front seat and Clem, Effie and Mom crowded into my Volvo’s back seat. It was not ideal but I couldn’t let Clem drive as he was right up there as the world’s worst driver. After some discussion, Clem became convinced that Lucy’s wheelchair would not fit in his trunk.
Clem does not know slow while driving in a car. He has traveled all over this country and in his travels he developed an extreme dislike for Volvo drivers as they usually were in his way. With everyone settled, I headed off to a restaurant near-by and Clem would be my GPS. He sat right behind Lucy and could see what I did as a driver. He decided I needed to know what lane to use, how close to follow the driver in front of me, how fast to drive in traffic. You get the idea. I basically ignored what I could and became aware that Lucy was not doing very well. She softly told me to stop as soon as I was able as she was about to throw-up. I got out of my lane and headed to the right hand side of the busy road to accommodate her needs. As I tried to maneuver my way to a convenience store, Clem started yelling that I was not following his instructions. Effie was trying to calm Clem down and I finally had to let everyone in the car know that Lucy was sick.
I finally made it to the parking lot and opened the door for Lucy. I then hurried into the store where there was a line waiting for the cashier. I rushed to the head of the line and asked if I could just have a bag of any type for an emergency. The clerk complied and off I ran to attend to Lucy. She thanked me for the bag and we waited as she tried and failed to throw-up. Lucy then insisted we continue to the lunch place as she felt a bit better and she might eat or just watch us eat.
Off we went to the restaurant with damped spirits. The lunch progressed with Lucy having some Ensure she had in her purse. After lunch we drove back to Rossmoor to drop off Clem and Effie. Lucy then asked if she could lie down a bit before we headed back to her place. I got her settled on Clem and Effie’s bed and then the four of us visited for about an hour. I checked on Lucy and made sure she was still breathing. I let her sleep another hour and then knew it was time to return her to her own bed. Clem helped me dragged her up the stairs and I got her into the car. We said our goodbyes and off we went back to Fremont.
With Lucy finally settled in her own bed, Mom and I headed back home. It turned out Lucy had reacted to too many pain pills with an upset stomach most of the day. Mom and I now needed dinner as time had passed sooner that we had expected. Mom suggested Pleasanton. She then tried to guide me to a favorite place she remembered from a previous visit. Mom and I had quite a history of her giving me driving directions. She was hopeless when it comes to giving directions and had no credibility with me. After a brief attempt at finding her place, I took over and said we would find something that looked possible. I was done with people telling me how to drive. My nerves were on edge and I was finished. We found a cute place and had our dinner and made it home.
Soon after this day I was chatting with Brad, my son, about my stressful day. He then informed me he and Elaina, his serious girlfriend at the time, had preformed at the Pleasanton Hotel doing a murder mystery for the dinner crowd. Yes, the Pleasanton Hotel was the place Mom had tried to find. Possibly if I had been a better state of mind, I would have had the patience to find the hotel. Somehow missing out on Brad and Elaina’s performance seemed a fitting end to a very stressful day.
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