So I'm in the midst of a 10 day work "week". Our scheduling allows for 2 days off a week and runs from Sunday to Saturday. What this means for a part-timer like me is that occasionally you get the short end of the scheduling stick.
I've been quite mentally exhausted and I haven't really caught up with myself. I started this job at the beginning on the holiday season (November) and I've been pretty much on a non-stop express since! Christmas, New Years, my niece's birth... It's been a lot of emotional ups and ups and ups. It's no surprise then that the inevitable "fall" has hit me so hard.
My grandmother and I have a fabulous relationship. For a long time in my youth we had very little in common with the exceptions of piano and ceramics, but as I've become an adult, we've become quite close and are very similar people. When I lived in on the mainland, in New Westminster, my husband and I tried to visit at least once every 2 weeks if not more often, depending on how our schedules aligned. We'd have frequent "double dates". Now that I live in Victoria, I try to call her when I have a free moment to see how she's doing and catch up. I really miss her.
In any case, when I attempted to call her this week I discovered that she was in need of medical attention. For her privacy I won't go into details, but needless to say I ended the call with my Grandfather and called the first person I could think of: my dad. He's currently living in Calgary, but I know all of her sons are out of town right now and so of course I leaned on the one I'm most familiar with and who would respond with the same sense of urgency I was feeling.
My dad is very good in a crisis, and I was only on my lunch break at work when I tried to call Grandma, so I knew Dad would run the issue down and find a solution. Dad got in touch with my uncle Matthew (who is currently in Winnipeg) and he called his wife who lives in Richmond (about 30 minutes away from Grandma and Grandpa's place) and she headed over to assist Grandpa. They called the paramedics and Grandma was safely on her way to the hospital.
This did not make for an emotionally stable shift for me, because I kept trying to get updates as to what was happening. It's kinda like finding out the building is burning but not knowing where, and you have to keep doing what you were doing when all you really want to do is bolt.
I was terrified that I was going to lose her. I don't know how I'd be able to cope. My heart was in my mouth the whole night and most of the next day. I know loss is inevitable, but how can you say goodbye to your family, your matriarch and your best friend?
But she's responding well to treatment and she's out of the woods so to speak. The doctors are keeping her under observation until the blood tests they're taking are coming back the way they want them to.
She keeps a blog on Blogger called "Grandma's Bits and Pieces" and I know she has quite a following. I made a post for her friends so they know why she isn't updating (she posts religiously every evening!) and I hope she isn't too upset about that. I know she'd be inundated with emails if she didn't post and people would worry even more then they are now.
I'm on my weekend now and I feel like I can finally try to catch my breath. I had today off, I'll have tomorrow off, I have an 8 hour shift on Sunday and then I have Monday and Tuesday off! Sometimes you get the short end of the scheduling stick but it usually comes around to balance in your favour ;)
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