|
Date with fate post 61 - Checkbook on the shopping cart
This entry was posted on 10/5/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Fate Fairies.
I was in the depths of taking on home-care for my Mom. She was slowly going down hill - the sinister combination age, cancer, and a blood issue similar to mine were taking their toll. Caring for her at our rural house had been a mild failure. So, after some serious discussion (something Heide and I rarely do) I put my work, my college, my ambulance participation, and my really my whole life, on hold. Then..., I moved in with her at her house. Heide as usual, held down our fort in the next county over over.
Deep into the home-care endeavor, a time came when I could not leave my Mom alone for more than minutes. We had people come, Hospice, volunteers, nurses, and neighbors. But, if you have ever done this work, you know the complexities of watching another human being 24 hours a day.
Woodman's grocery store is in walking distance of my Mom's house. And, when someone is so sick, you often need supplies without notice. One day around noon, I ran to ol' Woodman's for a couple items. I figured fifteen minutes tops. She usually did not get into any mischief in that short of time. I grabbed Mom's checkbook (I had Power of Attorney - she put my name on the account anyway), jumped in my car, and sped over to the store.
When caregiving, you will find yourself neglecting your own health, life, appearance, and cloths. When I got to the store, I realized I was in my sweat pants - the ones with no pockets. I set the checkbook up on the little wire shelf by the handle on the shopping cart. Also, Mom had put a good bit of money in that particular account (a good amount of money for her anyway). She did this while she could still think and plan - she wanted a working account for me or whoever, to be able to buy her stuff. She had seen enough friends and family die that she was not afraid of the background particulars of giving care to a dying person, in this case, you have got to have ready cash.
I picked up the items, paid at the cash register, shoved the cart back into the cart area, grabbed the bag out of the cart, hopped into my little car, and made it back to Mom's house in seconds flat. The whole thing lasted 10 minutes. I had gotten it down to a science. Mom slept quietly on her portable hospital bed through the whole thing.
I unloaded the bag, put the items on the kitchen counter, and went back to my little easy chair in the living room where I had set up a little television, work table, and computer. Mom had not been in her living room for a month. Her television I set up by her bed. But if need be, I could hear her rustling or asking for assistance from my little cubby hole.
I flipped on my little tv, booted up the computer, popped open soda, and leaned back into the easy chair. Suddenly, I shot out of the chair to a standing position like I was a middle linebacker. The checkbook! I ran to the kitchen. Ran back to my cubby whole. Blasted out the door and slung open the door to my little car. Nothing, anywhere. I had left the damn checkbook at the grocery store, probably on the cart.
I quickly peeked at Mom, still asleep, locked the house door, and drove the three blocks to the grocery store at about 70 miles an hour. I parked right under the no-parking sign by the door, ran in and retraced my steps last to first. No check book on any of the carts. I ran to the cash register - no check book. I ran to the service desk - no check book. Tears began to well up in my eyes.
I started to think of all the chaos that could happen with a stolen checkbook. I would need to call the bank immediately. My damn cell phone sat back at my desk in Mom's living room.
"Go back over the path again," I told myself. One more run retracing my steps. Nothing. I turned, defeated, and faced the wall by the service desk. I wiped the tears out of my eyes and there on the stack of bottled water by the wall was a check book.
"No way!" I said out loud. Someone must have took the cart, seen the checkbook, and set it on the water.
At that hour the store was replete with senior citizens. Someone did it the old way. Leave the lost item near or at the place it was lost. Knowing someone might retrace steps.
I grabbed the checkbook. It was real. My car waited patiently, motor running, door open, still under the no-parking sign.
"You can't park there, sonny," an old fellah said as I hopped into the sad little work car.
I just smiled and said, "It's a great day, ain't it Pops?"
When I got home, Mom still slept, off in what I hoped was a better world than the one she would face when she soon woke up; and, as usual she would have to struggle painfully with the simplest tasks of daily life.
If there was ever a time I called into question my own nonchalant attitude toward believing in the possibility of a higher power, it was this day of the lost checkbook.
Note: This blog "Fate Fairies" Category does not list the brushes with fate chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older event. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Fate Fairies Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army National Guard Specialist Eric Ulysses Ramirez, 31, San Diego, California (family connections in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin), was killed on Thursday, February 12, 2004, in Abu Ghraib, Iraq. Abu Ghraib is about 30 miles west of Baghdad. Ramirez was attacked while on patrol by small arms fire, a rocket propelled grenade, and an improvised explosive device (roadside bomb). Specialist Ramirez was assigned to the 670th Military Police Company, California Army National Guard, out of National City, California.
The Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs Web site indicates Ramirez's wife Tracey has resided in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin.
The Orlando Sentinel notes Eric Ramirez was married in August 2001. Ramirez's father is a paster and schoolteacher in Mascotte, Florida, and officiated at the wedding. Ramirez had a daughter and an infant son at the time of his death. The Orlando Sentinel article went on to say Ramirez had been living in southern California since he ended his active-duty Navy service in the 1990s. He was working as a deputy sheriff in San Diego County when recalled to active duty in early 2003. The Sentinel also mentioned Eric Ramirez was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in November of 1972. His family moved to Orlando, Florida in 1973 and then to Sorrento, Florida, in 1977. Both Ramirez's parents have worked for the Lake County, Florida, school system for around 25 years. Eric Ramirez graduated from Mount Dora High School, Mount Dora, Florida, in 1991. Ramirez's wife Tracy's hometown is Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. The Web site policelink.monster.com notes Ramirez's wife was also a veteran of the Navy.
The Los Angles Times notes Eric played played soccer, baseball and football in school. After graduating he joined the Navy and was stationed in Texas; Europe; and San Diego. After leaving the Navy Ramirez enlisted in the California Army National Guard, and went to work for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. He met his future wife in San Diego. At the time of his death, Ramirez had only a couple months left in his National Guard obligation.
At the time of his death Army National Guard Specialist Eric Ramirez was survived by his wife Tracey Benson Ramirez; daughter Isis; son Chase Eric Charles; parents Felix and Maria Ramirez; brother Adel; sister sister Xochil Elmore; and, maternal grandparents, Juan and Juana Gutierrez. Specialist Ramires was buried at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
Army National Guard Specialist Eric Ulysses Ramirez is the 93rd military service person that has been identified by Cool Dadio Media as having Wisconsin connections and that has died in Iraq since the Spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
102,745 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003 (actually documented).
10,125 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,481 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1795 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
951 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.
32,195 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
592 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.
14,239 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
192 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
36 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.
150 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
22 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org .
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
