It has been a couple of months since Grady’s dad fell ill. As anyone who has been through a similar situation can tell you, there is a feeling of helplessness and a silent indicator of stress that creeps into your body’s muscles. For most people, this tenseness is in their neck, back, or shoulders, but not Grady.
One morning, Grady woke up to a foot so sore and tender he couldn’t stand or walk on it. He thought he must have broken a bone. In his haze of ongoing hospital visits and doctor calls, he couldn’t for the life of him recall how he’d broken it.
After much wailing and carrying on, I talked him into letting me touch it. Slowly, I began to massage, deepening the pressure. By the afternoon, like a miracle, the pain was gone. That is when I realized Grady needed a break. I’ve never heard of anyone collecting stress in their big toe!
Mixing Work and Fun
I hatched a plan. Hearing that the Hogs basketball team was going to be playing a non-conference game in Miami, I thought to take Grady away to the ball game and visit our Miami store location, all in one. It seemed like a good idea until we awoke on our first day, the day of the game, to a call from Grady’s father’s caregiver back in Little Rock. Daddy Mac, as we call him, had fallen, bloodied his head, and was on his way to the hospital.
As you can imagine, Grady began to feel guilty. But, as it turns out, having Daddy Mac tucked in at the UAMS hospital was great. He had round the clock care and twice a day, he was visited by his wife and caregiver Pebbles, who I have renamed Patience, because she is the most patient person I have ever met. Another good name for her might be “Angel” because she is that too. Having been a caregiver for years our patient Pebbles is much more qualified to tend to Daddy Mac’s needs. She can practically read his mind and knows just what he likes: ice cream and cookies … and people, she keeps ‘em coming.
Seeing that everything was being handled so well, we decided not to cut our trip short and instead went to release more stress at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood. Where I won $900 in two hours.
Now that was a good idea.
Get Kerry’s latest blog post every week by entering your information under Join Our Mail List in the side bar, checking the appropriate box, and clicking Subscribe. xoxoxo
