A Time to Get...To Every Thing a Season chpt. 11

As the weeks passed, Sandra continued to take her radiation treatments daily. Kevin and I continued to go every weekend, as well as his sister Stephanie. Sandra's brother Tommy and his wife Linda visited as much as they could, but because of Tommy's unpredictable schedule, we never got to be there with them.

Sandra's friends were in and out every day. It was amazing to see such an effort by so many people to encourage her and cheer her up. But there were three friends that were as close as the family; Linda B, Patricia, and Joyce. They were there no matter what; thick and thin, Sandra's inner circle. Sandra needed them, and we had no problem with that. However, there were a few times I felt like the family needed time to be with her alone.

Thanksgiving was approaching, and Kevin and Stephanie had decided that the three of us would prepare the Thanksgiving meal. We wanted to make it as "normal" as possible. Of course, Jackie protested and told us to do as we would normally do on Thanksgiving-stay at home. He simply didn't want to put us out. It was heart breaking to know that his need was so great, yet he refused to ask. Jackie was deathly ill with the pulmonary fibrosis, yet he didn't want to be a burden. Kevin and Stephanie both wanted to spend Thanksgiving with Sandra, and they weren't going to take "No" for an answer.

Jackie had done his best to help Sandra, but he finally had to hire a nurse to take care of her during the day.After all, he did still own a business, and he tried to "work" every day. When Sandra had first come home from the rehabilitation center, he had hired two other nurses that didn't pan out. The hiring agency he went through shuffled the nurses around, which Jackie was not happy about. He finally found someone who worked out perfectly. Laura was a great help, as well as a capable nurse. There was good rapport between Laura and all of the family. There was no way in the world to manage without her. Jackie needed her as much as Sandra did; Laura did laundry, cleaned bathrooms, you name it. And when we arrived on Tuesdays or Thursdays, I did everything I could to make the load lighter on everyone.

During all of this darkness and struggling, we had some news that gave us all a ray of hope. Stephanie announced that she would be having a baby! I thought that if anything would encourage Sandra to fight, this surely would. Sandra was overjoyed by the news! We were finally seeing the twinkling in Sandra's eyes. She finally looked like she wanted to live.

Thanksgiving Day came. Kevin, Stephanie, and I were up early in preparation of the big day. Stephanie beat all of us up-she had morning sickness. Poor thing, she never did seem to get past that stage. As Sandra was lying in her hospital bed, she told us to "be careful in my kitchen!!" and, "Don't y'all make a mess!!!" All morning long, we laughed, giggled, bumped into each other. Daniel, Jordan, and Savannah kept Sandra company in the den while we wrecked her southern living style kitchen.

The menu consisted of all the traditional Thanksgiving trimmings; turkey, dressing, macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, banana pudding, etc. The banana pudding was specially made for Sandra because she always loved my banana pudding. We had everything ready by noon when the rest of the family arrived. Jackie's son Bud and his wife and children came, as well as grandma and her sister Evelyn.

Sandra had changed into a nice sweater, fixed her hair, and put on her make-up. Looking at her sitting there so pretty, you wouldn't have known how sick she was. Having family together for Thanksgiving had made her look almost well again. She seemed almost magically transformed. I knew that the news about the baby also had a lot to do with it, too.

We had a wonderful meal and a wonderful time with the family. Everyone was happy to be together. The mood was so light, the lurking certainty of Sandra's death seemed to disappear.

Earlier in the week, I had talked to Sandra and tried to convince her to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. She always answered in an exasperated tone, "We'll see...." I was shocked to hear Sandra call out to me while I was cleaning the kitchen, "Hurry up, Rita. If you want to go shopping, let's get going!" I hurried about, trying to get cleaned up. Not the kitchen, but my self!

Jackie gave me instructions on how to get Sandra in and out of the car. "Remember to use her sliding board, or she'll fall down. And make her sit in the back."

I was getting nervous. Maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew. But too late for that. It was off to Belk's, Sandra's favorite place. As soon as I got her in the car, I opened the trunk to put the wheel chair in. I strained to lift it up to clear the lip of the trunk.

Good grief! How in the world has Jackie been doing this?? This thing is heavy!

We chatted on the way to Belk's, talking about the things we were looking for. She wanted to buy some clothes and perfume. She also wanted some new shoes. She also wanted to go to Walmart to buy some make-up and bathroom products. All of this was so thrilling to hear! She had some purpose, some goals, some desire!

Fortunately, the crowd wasn't too bad for Thanksgiving Day. Once inside, Sandra went directly for the clothes. It was an eye opening event...as she wheeled through the racks of clothes, clothes and hangers would spring back and hit her in the face. This made her angry, but I could tell she was trying to suppress it because she wanted to have a good time with me.

She picked out several outfits and tried them on, which was no easy task. I helped as much as she would let me, but who wants their daughter in law to see them without clothes on? Sandra didn't, and I can't say I blame her.

After finding 2 new outfits, she asked me to help her pick out some new gym shoes. Her physical therapy at home required her to pull herself up using a handicap bar installed in her hallway. Good tread on her shoes were vital. She had also started taking a few steps with a walker. She had to have shoes with excellent support before she could continue with this new endeavor. She hated the walker, but I was glad that she was getting shoes that her therapist recommended. It let me know she was going to try. Up to this point, she had only taken a few steps. It was such a consuming task! We would have to stand behind her with her wheelchair because after a couple of steps she would fall back down from sheer exhaustion. Her legs would wobble like a little toddler who was just learning to stand.

Next was the perfume counter. She asked what I recommended, and I told her I liked Euphoria by Calvin Klein. She made note of that but proceeded to spray just about every tester bottle on the counter. When all was said and done, Euphoria was her favorite, too.

She was having such a good time!! She picked up my Christmas gift, which was a set of Cuisinart cookware. Her grand total at Belk's was over $500. When she handed the cashier her credit card, she looked over at me and said with her dry humor, "Jackie owes me big time. I haven't bought anything in months."

I just knew we were done when we left Belk's, but she told me that we needed to go to Walmart. On our way out to the car, a lady walked up to her and said, "Sandra!! What in the world happened to you!?!?!" I wanted to shove this lady away from Sandra because I knew it would undo all the fun we had been having. Sandra's tone and expression changed as she gave a short summary of all that had been happening over the past 3 months.

After the lady left, I asked Sandra who it was. It was a former co-worker, and I knew the woman was only concerned about Sandra. It just sounded so insensitive when she said it. Most of all, I was afraid it would put an end to a long awaited wonderful day.

Sandra did seem a bit subdued after the encounter, but the visit to Walmart picked her back up. We picked out some make-up for Sandra. She bought both of us a tube of matching lipstick, something she had done on many occasions. She also wanted to buy the kids some board games, so we picked up several of those. Her Walmart total was almost $200. After $700 dollars and the crowds, she was ready to go home.

It had been such a good day. After she got home, she sat up in her hospital bed for a while, reading a devotional book and her Bible. There had been such a change in her! The news of the baby had worked wonders.

Later that weekend, Sandra had wheeled herself down the hall. We all assumed she was getting herself to the bathroom, something she had been doing on her own for quite some time. I was busying myself in the kitchen and suddenly I heard Kevin shout, "Momma!!" My heart jumped with fear! I ran towards the hall, where I saw an empty wheel chair fly across the hall.

I heard Kevin and Sandra exchanging words, but it wasn't really arguing...not really.

"Momma!! What were you doing??"

"I was fixing the curtain in the bathroom!" Sandra had pulled her wheelchair up to the hall bathroom door as far as she could. The she pulled herself up by using the bathroom counter, and walked over to the bathroom window to fix the valance on the window treatment. How she had managed, none of us could figure it out. She held on to the counter, but that was hardly enough support to help her stand. She could barely walk 10 feet with her walker. When she tried to get back in her wheelchair, the brakes had slipped and the wheelchair flew out from under her. Miraculously, she didn't fall.

"You could have fallen and gotten hurt, Momma!!"

"But I didn't." There was so much smugness in her voice. I smiled at the sound of it.

"Jackie's gonna be so upset with you!" Kevin said.

"You think I'm worried about Jackie? Ha!" This dialogue went on for several minutes.

Later that day when Jackie got home, we told him about what happened. He was concerned but glad to see some fight revive in Sandra.

"We're gonna have to watch her close now, y'all," Jackie said.

We all agreed. We all had seen what we had been longing to see...a determinant will that would cause her to fight and win.

We're getting her back. She's finally fighting this thing. She's going to make it!