Family dynamics is a funny thing. You grow up leaning on family for support and one day you wake up and realize your family leans on you too.
It always starts as a normal day when things to awry.
You wake up and complete your morning rituals.
The mystical cell phone is always an integral part of your day; it's how you keep in touch with those far far away. You text a 'crazy face' good morning photo to your mom and receive a 'crazy face' photo from mom back. She wins obviously, because of the massive bandages sticking out of her nose and swollen upper lip from the sinus surgery she had the previous day. Your day goes on as usual and then BAM - out of no where it's a not so normal day.
Your phone chimes from an incoming text message. It's not a normal goofy text. It's a picture text of your dad that you literally mistake as Frankenstein for a minute, only to read the following text from your mom saying that the photo is in fact of your father...he got hit in the head with concrete at work and had to rush to the hospital to get 6 stitches on his forehead, 8 staples in his hair line, and obtained a pretty nasty concussion.
For the first time in your move out West you truly realize how far away you are from the first place you ever called 'home'. At 25, you never really thought about your parents needing you for anything and start to panic wondering how your doped up mom with gauze over flowing out of her unhealed still bleeding nose and doped up Frankensteined dad with stitches and staples on his head are going to take care of themselves and each other. You relax a little when baby sister (who only lives about 45 minutes away) comes to the rescue! She will care for the parentals until they are well. You take a minute to be thankful things were the way they were and not any worse, breathe deep, and find the husband to share the dramatic story with.
That evening husband and you get sucked into the recorded world of Game of Thrones. Around 11:00 p.m. you decide it's time to call it quits and get ready for bed. Approximately 30 minutes later, when you're sitting comfortably in bed getting ready to finally lay your head down on that fluffy pillow, you realize there's a missed call and voicemail on your phone.
It's an all too calm message from your usually chipper and enthusiastic Aunt C stating that my Aunt M is being whisked away by an ambulance and is currently getting their 7 year old daughter (my cousin) dressed and ready to head to the hospital. Again, that helplessness and panic of not being close enough to rush there to help in any way surfaces.
You immediately call Aunt C back and get the frightening details about the situation. You then are asked if you could fill in at the wedding expo Aunt C&M produced in Denver, CO this coming weekend and if you can be in Denver the next day. You answer without skipping a beat; yes.
& finally after a day of feeling so far and helpless you get to be a little more than the emotional support that is hundreds of miles away.
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