Doctor Grandma

My computer clock says 1:17am. I just finished grading the last of about 65 short papers. Students’ grades are finally posted. Everything is done online. With the option of turning it in online or in class, perhaps 7-8 students out of 30-35 turn it in, in class. The rest are online. Their grades with my comments are sent back to them online. Not e-mail, but a special program.

Something happens in the air at 1:17am. The house is totally quiet. No tv is blaring, no phone calls are coming in, no one is talking. It is almost as if a spiritual atmosphere enfolds the place. We feel like we can talk and the world will hear, but we are actually, truly alone.

I feel somewhat sad tonight. I am sad that I cannot see my grandsons 4 states away. This is the longest break yet. It will last 2 more months, for a total of 4 before I see them and hug them again. It is not really enough to maintain contact. Visits are good but they are too brief to really feel close and intimate with them. But, what can we do? We now live here and will stay here. We just have to do our best. My 9-yr-old who I chatted with on facebook tonight, told me he is “too old” to go Halloweening this year!! I said RUBBISH!! Become a pirate and go out and have some fun, get some o’ that LOOT, matey!! Ahoy! He had none of it. I said “CANDY” and he said, “BE QUIET”. So that is the state of the world.

I am sad tonight that I have a family member who will not speak to me and acts as if I am the devil from hell. I can’t say who it is because she or he will then get irritated. That makes me sad tonight. We only have a certain short number of years in this world.

I am EXTREMELY happy that tomorrow is payday.

Somehow, by some miracle of sorts, I will review tests in both Stratification and Social Theory tomorrow, as well as address Max Weber’s “class, status and party”. And I will do a children’s virtues class from 4 to 4:45, which is not yet fully planned. Should be interesting.

I really, really want to sleep in tomorrow but I can’t. So I’d best hit the sack, on which my husband is already snoring.

Made a trip to ER with our adult son last night. Infection, needed antibiotics, he will be okay. Went to a Baptist hospital in downtown Columbia. Some observations:

They had a parking garage for people using the ER. There were 4-5 police officers standing around the entrance and exit at all times. What the heck are they looking for? How many people are going to “sneak in” to the hospital ER parking garage at around midnight on a Tues. night??

Walking inside, first thing I see is a young man trying to sleep in a chair, with a hospital blanket thrown over him. He partially opened his eyes and look at me when I walked in. I was the only white person in there except for yet another police officer at the information desk. My son & husband were already there when I got there. I went to registration, asked about him, got sent to ER, who then directed me to ANOTHER area where I was to follow the “blue wall” to a door and open it. They were inside. He was awaiting results of a test. Another lady came and took him from THAT room in a few mins. We didn’t go along, as he is an adult. The lady said nothing to us. I felt something was wrong but my husband was determined to just sit there and wait.

During the waiting time, I observed other people in the waiting room. Each one was suffering in their own way. None of them wanted to be in ER late at night on a weekday, so I started thinking about why they were there. A father and son sat in 2 chairs, the boy with an ice pack on his wrist. He had fallen at a high school football game, had just had an x-ray. His father was very supportive and proud of this young man, & said his son had been to the hospital in the past year, more than he had in his whole life. I think he was slightly frustrated.

Another woman was alone & just sat in a chair until her name was called. Maybe she had the flu?

Another pretty young woman had evidently injured her mouth. She sat in a chair with a small towel held to her mouth. I did not see any blood. A man sat across from her until she moved to be closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. She was hurting. She couldn’t speak.

They gradually cleared all the people out, then a woman asked us who we were with. Turns out, our son had been taken BACK to the regular ER room. We went back there & found him just about ready to leave.

Hospitals always give me the creeps. People suffering, people hurting, sick people, cold air, nurses changing shifts. Especially at night they give me the creeps.

When we left, I got in my car alone, they got in the truck to go get his meds, I left the garage and got COMPLETELY and totally lost in downtown Columbia. This was not cool, as it was already midnight. So I drove around and gradually followed my intuition, to get headed back toward downtown and the highway home. It was a little hairy there for a few mins. There is a Bank of America about a mile high which stands out like a lighthouse. I figured I would find it eventually if I headed toward busy streets and well-lit areas. I did.