Should Have Had a V-8

I look at the post date of my previous blog entry and I realize it was 13 days ago. Where has all the time gone? These days are extra busy. I find myself doing laundry after ten and making soup before nine.

We brought my mother-in-love home from the hospital on oxygen where she will now be getting support. What an intense time of meeting nurses and social workers and learning to operate machinery and setting up systems to keep things organized.

On Saturday when I picked mom up at the hospital to bring her home, the nurse/aide helped her into the front seat while I was opening the hatch for loading in the oxygen tank. Coming around to the passenger side of the van to buckle her seat belt, I noticed the seat was in a reclining position. 

"Lean forward so I can bring your seat up," I told her. 

As she leaned up, I pushed the handle. The seat flew forward smacking her in the back. 

She immediately popped out with, "I should have had a V-8!" 

We both laughed. 

We laughed later when we realized we had carefully put her oxygen tube on her, set the concentrator to "2" as we had been duly instructed, but I had never turned the oxygen on! 

My sister-in-law also shared a funny story about one day when they were racing to the doctor and my sister-in-law ran through on a yellow light. Mom's quick-witted quip was that they could stop twice the next time! 

These are tender times for so many of us. One dear friend has her mom in the our local hospice residence. Another is bringing her younger brother home with hospice care today in a city in a nearby state. We are each facing the long journey of the only inevitability of our lives: our transition from these physical bodies. 

Speaking at a nearby church next Sunday morning—Memorial Day—the title is "The Last Minute" and I will open with this: 

Way back in the days of full-service gas stations, a minister waited in line to have his car filled with gas just before a long holiday weekend. The attendant, a member of the church, worked quickly, but there were many cars lined up ahead of the minister. 

Finally, the attendant motioned the minister toward a vacant pump. "Reverend," said the young man, "Sorry about the delay. It seems as if everyone waits until the last minute to get ready for a long trip."

The minister laughed and responded, "I know what you mean. It's the same in my business."

Whatever is present in your life right now, it is best to remember we are each getting ready for a long trip every moment of our lives. Take a lesson from my mother-in-law, and don't wait until the last minute. Let's all make every day one filled with heart-felt laughter.