Thursday, January 18, 2018

Shaken and Stirred

I was taking an early nap yesterday, when I was awakened by the door bell.  Having been sound asleep, for some crazy reason I yelled, "Who is it?" just as my roommate yelled, "I'll get it."  Then I heard Bea say, "Miz Devine," and that was all.  I then suddenly realized that my sister was in my bedroom, looking distressed.  I immediately sat up and put on my glasses.  Kathy looked like she was going to burst into tears at any second, so I welcomed her, hugged her, and took her by the hand to encourage her to sit on the side of the bed.  Jokingly, I asked, "Are you lost?" and was astounded when she nodded her head and said, "Yes."
  That response was like having a glass of ice water poured down my back.  We continued to sit, and I put my arms around her and rocked her, making soothing noises as she cried.  Once she was finished, I started asking questions, and found that she had gone to a Roku session at Blair Chandler's office on 30th Street.  She stated she had emerged feeling "blissful."  She was waiting for her husband to pick her up, but he didn't appear.  She tried to call him, and found that her cell phone was dead.  She wandered in the area around Blair's office for a while, and then realized that my apartment was close enough to walk to.
   I called her house, and got no answer.  Then I called her husband's cell and, when he answered, asked if he had lost my sister.  He said, well, yes, he had...  and that their son Mike and grandson Finn were waiting at their house.  I said that Kathy was at my place, and offered to drive her home, which he accepted.   And, the thing that topped it all off, was that, when I got Kathy home, the front door was locked, and she had no key to get inside.  She cried again, poor thing.  When I took Kathy home, I found out that there was no appointed time for him to pick her up; he was waiting for her phone call.  Her phone was dead, of course.  So he went looking for her after it seemed well past time for her to be finished. Of course, they missed each other completely.
   Poor big sister.  I have felt lost and alone many times.  I have cried hopeless tears until sleep finally swept me away.  But the stark fear I saw in my sister's face yesterday shook me immensely.  We have "joked" that she has chemo-brain, and mushy-brain, from her cancer treatments - but yesterday was quite an experience, for both of us.

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