Super Heroes Continued...

My mom could not think straight. I am still amazed that as frazzled as she was, she was still able to figure out how to operate the telephone. So Bonnie had to make the flight arrangements for my mom. Bonnie wasn’t going to fly with her so my mom was going to go by herself. Since she was going by herself, I asked if she needed me to go. Her only answer that she would give me was “if you want.” This went on for a few minutes. I was becoming frustrated. She would not give me a straight answer. I had never been in a situation like this, so I did not know what was expected of me. When she finally called me back with the airfare prices, I told her I would go.

It was three o’clock. The flight was scheduled to leave around five. I rushed home. I was so lost in thought and confusion that by the time I made it home I realized that I did not even remember the drive. But I didn’t have to worry about that because I needed to pack. I grabbed whatever I could find in my closet and didn’t think twice about what it looked like. That was not the best decision, as I would soon find out.

Even though my mom had been getting ready before me, I finished packing before her. In the meantime, I went outside to talk my mom’s friends. My mom had been with Becky and Bonnie for the past two days for a girl’s trip up in Park City. My mom had just arrived home when she received the phone call from my dad’s friend to tell her what had happened. Bonnie’s husband was on the same trip as my dad when he had his stroke. Bonnie’s husband called her and told her what had happened. As soon as she found out she went straight to my house and informed Becky of the situation.

When I walked out into the garage to go outside I noticed thick and heavy grey clouds in the sky. There was a slight breeze, and I should have been wearing a jacket, but at that point I did not care. I don’t how the conservation began, but Becky and Bonnie explained to me how relieved they were that I was going with my mom to Denver. She believed that my mom was too stressed to go on her own.

My other superhero was strong--until now. I have rarely seen her cry. The only time I have seen her cry is when a family member passed away. Even then she has always managed to be discrete about her feelings. She is the one who stays together and I am the emotional one. Now, she was the emotional one and I wasn’t. Anytime I watch the news and hear a sad story I begin to well up with tears. But now when something has happened to me, m eyes remain bone dry.

I had decided in the back of my mind that there was a reason for this. My body was preparing itself. Things could get worse really fast, and my body did not want to exhaust itself yet. I kept telling myself the future was going to be the most difficult part. I didn’t know what hurdles I was going to have to jump, so I needed to stay calm. Plus, what good would that do for my mom?

Super Heroes

I walked into the customer care department and went straight for Natasha’s phone. My mom explained to me that my dad had a stroke. She continued to say that due to weather, my dad and his friends could not get out of the canyon they were in. As a result, they were going to life flight him to Grand Junction. The plan was that my brother and I would stay put. My mom’s friend Bonnie was going to drive her to Grand Junction. I don’t think anyone trusted my mom to drive four and half hours by herself.

Once I got off the phone I felt my legs shaking. My manager looked over at me and asked if I was OK. I told her that I thought so. She told me if I needed to go home I could. But what good would that do? My dad and mom, from two different directions, were both on their way to Grand Junction. I couldn’t imagine sitting at home thinking the worst. My mom didn’t want me and my brother to go with her, so that idea was out the window. Plus, the information had not sunk in, so I had yet to understand the severity of the situation. I decided it was best to stay at work and keep myself busy.

About forty-five minutes later I received another phone call. I saw my mom’s number appear on the caller ID of my cell phone. I could feel my heart beat quicken, and my hands fumbled as I went to answer the phone. I listened to my mom’s calm voice. A sense of relief came over me. They were going to send my dad to Salt Lake. It was going to be a little past five when they would expect him to arrive. This bit of information made everything seem so much easier. I get off work at five so I had planned to go to the University of Utah Hospital right after. I was unsure of how to get there, but I figured that would be my last concern.

Right when I thought things were going to get easier I was wrong. It was my mom again. The weather was too bad, so they were not going to send my dad to Salt Lake. Instead, they were going to transport him to Denver. My family had never been to Denver, and I never imagined my first time there would be under these circumstances.

Super Heroes

They fight crime and chase away the boogie man. They have the answers to anything and protect you from everything. When they are needed they can be there in lightening speed. They can read minds and find you when you are lost. They are the land movers and the music makers. They are the world’s superheroes. But even superheroes have bad days.

On May 3, 2007 my superhero just so happened to take a vacation with his friends down in Lake Powell, Utah. That day for me had started out cold and wet, not to mention bad. I was on my way to work, and I was only minutes away when I passed the duck pond at the Metro Business Park. On the left side of the road there was a brown speckled colored duck. A white worker van was approaching the duck. Instead of slowing down like most drivers, the van driver continued on, startling the duck. To avoid getting hit by the white van, the duck flew up into the air. However, the duck made a big mistake. Instead of flying away from the cars, he flew in front of my car. It was too late. I heard a huge thunk. I hit a duck. I could not believe it. I had hit a duck. I pulled over and got out of my car. I looked around. There was no duck in sight. I know I hit the duck. I heard it. Where it went, I had no idea. That was my first sign that the day had no where to go but down hill.

When I arrived at work I was helping out in the warehouse instead of my usual routine of talking to customers on the phones. Shortly before lunch I was getting ready to clean up the project I was working on so that I could go eat. I heard the foot steps coming in my direction but choose not to look up. I assumed it was one of the warehouse workers coming to pull a gown off the shelves.

“Shanene!” yelled Natasha. I looked up. I knew something was wrong the moment she said my name. I could hear the panic in her voice. The first thing that came to mind was my grandfather. He is almost eighty-three. I thought “it must be time.”

But it wasn’t my grandfather. It was my dad. He had a massive stroke. But that couldn’t be right. He is only fifty-seven. That is still young. He is always moving and working hard. This is the man who goes up to the Uintas every weekend in the summer to go backpacking. He is the one who would take just a backpack up in the mountains for a week at a time so he could make it to King’s Peak. He was my dad. This couldn't happen to him. He is invincible.