The First Mistake - August 9th 2012

The very first mistake I made, Mom, was on August 9th, the evening you told Mary Jo and me that you wanted to talk to us. You were visibly shaken. When we all sat down in the living room, you told us that you were starting to shake uncontrollably. You were concerned that it might be the starting signs of something very serious. I must admit that I didn't take it seriously at all. I just thought it was something natural that happened to an 85 year old person from time to time. Mary Jo thought differently. She thought maybe it was a bad reaction to drugs. I can't remember all she said, but she had a number of ideas. You told us that you had called your doctor and talked to the nurse about it, but they couldn't get you an appointment until Tuesday. That was their mistake! They should have realized it could be something serious, and they should have told you to come in right away. Paul could have easily taken you. But tragically we all went to bed that night with no clear plan what to do. I remember that night you were very confused about whether or not you had taken your pills. I think I told you to not worry about the pills. You first had mentioned you took them, so I figured your first answer was proably right. But you kept second guessing yourself. Little did I know that that would be the last night we would ever have an actual conversation. You had your stroke sometime that night. We don't exactly know when, but I know it was between midnight and 4:00 AM. I will tell you why I know this in my next entry.