Cheese Movers

It’s the second weekend of summer and the second weekend in a row of too many parent needs with an odd mixture of blessings thrown in like teasers to keep us going.  Wednesday, Mother and I left to go look at a used lift recliner for Dad. Thankfully I was driving her 17 year old Lumina, because the motor blew out about 3 miles into our journey.  After an obvious "pop, jolt, and shudder," I literally felt the life drain out of this sad ‘ole car, while I coasted down 1641 till reaching a safe place to park.  Thank goodness Mom had a towing service card handy as well as a cheerful attitude, and Lydia, as usual, sat quietly in the backseat  without a complaint.  

While waiting on a tow truck, oddly, I kept humming an old tune but with a weird twist.  “This was the day…the Lumina…died.  And we were singing…Bye, bye Ms. American pie…”  I guess my mind was trying to lighten the craziness of the day, I don’t know.  Dad was left "home alone", which we rarely do, because we didn’t plan on being gone long.  So things were further dramatized as mom dialed their home number to try to explain to Daddy, who can’t hear on the phone, that #1 the car was dead, #2 we hadn’t been in a wreck, #3 we were safe, but #4 we wouldn’t be home any time soon.

Thursday, Lydia and I made it to see the lift chair by ourselves, and made an executive decision to get it. Thursday night Tommy and I took his 2014 Malibu loaner car (yes his was in the hospital) over to mom’s house to see if Dad could fit in it, saving them a major circus-like trip to the car dealership to find a car.  If you’ve ever seen Daddy transfer, you’d know why we considered this among our teaser blessings!  Thankfully we were able to wedge his body into the front passenger seat without too much trouble. After taking it for a spin around Kaufman, my parents were agreeable to buying a similar car making that process simpler than it could have been.

Back at the house, we started moving things around to make room for Dad's recliner.  It’s kinda like the book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”.  To make room for the recliner, you have to move a sleeper sofa. To make room for the sleeper sofa you have to put a bunch of stuff in the attic as well as move two electric beds in two different places back together in a new spot.  To make room for the electric beds in a new spot, you have to move a queen size bed to my house.  To make room for the queen size bed in my house you have to move a twin bed from my house back to Mom’s house…and on it goes. Dad was understandably agitated, and I’m fairly sure I saw Mother glaring at me a few times as I made more unappreciated, executive decisions without much sympathy for her plight.  I get it…not only did their car die, but, as mom likes to say when Dad has a hard time handling change, “their cheese is being moved.”

Today Tommy is renting a UHAUL to move afore mentioned “cheese” into the appropriate places with help from Mom’s faithful yard man.  My plan is to stay out of the way and out of the line of fire while attending to my own cheese moving phobias.  I’ll be cooking a meal to take later as an appeasement offering while thanking God for the teaser blessings along the way. We’ll likely leave the car buying till next week, spaced in and around taking Daddy to Rockwall for a heart monitor…