First, let me make it clear that my husband is a saint. More on that subject another time, but rest assured, he is one of the best people in the world.
He does, however, tend to make plans and have a difficult time when they don't work out like he planned...which is a lot of the time. Today was one of those days.
We had been discussing weekend plans, and needed to do some things at the house at the lake. The weather report looked positive and Walker was going out with his attendant, and I was feeling good. So when we went to bed last night, that plan was loosely in place.
We were being a bit lazy this morning and just about to get up when the phone rang. I had forgotten that I had agreed to keep one of the children while his mommy went to brother's end of year party. Okay, it was only going to be for a short time, we could get packed while he was here. Before that plan was put in motion, another grandchild wanted to come over while her parents ran some errands. In my mind, still not a problem. I still needed to get some plants in the ground before the weather becomes unbearably hot, so we could get that done while she was here. We did that and got a couple of necessary errands done.
Then someone left the gate open and the dog got out. We live near the intersection of two busy streets, so once we realized Charlie was gone, there was nothing to do but go look for him. We found him, across one of the streets, where he had stopped traffic in both directions. Some lovely young mom's and their kids had rescued him.
So now, it's four o'clock, we still aren't packed for the lake, and we're dirty and tired, and I'm feeling terrible that our day didn't work out like we planned. My husband is tidying up and putting away tools, and I'm thinking I'd really rather go to a movie than drive to the lake in Friday afternoon traffic.
That is a often a typical day at our house. This time, Walker III wasn't a part of the problem, but when you have an adult with a disability living with you, you never know.
I can't begin to calculate the number of times we have gotten a call from work that there was a problem (more on that another time too) or had to arrange rides for him when we had car maintenance or because he had an unexpected need for a doctor visit.
Shifting directions on a dime is an absolute necessity when you have a family, with or without a child with a problem. A fellow grandmother said to me recently that we're not unemployed, we're "on call". I'm truly grateful that we are able to be "on call".
The rewards are getting to watch "Barney" with a toddler and take our granddaughter out to lunch and learn all about the life cycle of worms and ladybugs from her while we dig in the dirt.
I hope we will always remember to shift to another path without complaining and appreciate the experiences along the way.
Blessings, Janie
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