A Story to Tell

We got the call on Tuesday, December 21st.  It was 8am and I heard the phone ring and figured it was my friend, Deb.  Jordan, Hannah and I and Deb and her daughter, Tori, were to go out to the Swan Center to feed the horses.  It was our only time over the break that we could get out there.  It was snowy and cold and I was not wanting it to be brutal weather for our day at the ranch but I was looking forward to seeing those horses.  I heard Hannah answer the phone and as she was climbing the stairs to the loft, my bedroom.  She said, "Mom, it's Grandpas next door neighbor on the phone!"  I knew immediately something was wrong.  She said hello and that my dad collapsed in the driveway and that she didn't have my brothers' phone number, only mine, so she called me.   She gave me some grim details.  He was snow blowing, he collapsed and they are all over there and they haven't even left for the hospital yet and they are working on him.  I asked her what does that mean, working on him, and she said she didn't know.   I asked again, what does that mean? Are they doing CPR?  She didn't know.  I hung up and got out of bed and ran downstairs to the kitchen where my Rolodex is.  I called my brother Mike, who lives 20 min away and no answer.  I called my brother, Andy, who lives 5 hours away and his wife answered.  I was now crying and told her the short version of the story and she handed the phone over.  Andy took charge and said he'd call me back.  By now, Mike called me back and was already in the car on the way to Dad's house.  For the next 10 minutes it was phone calls.   We finally found out he was being brought to North Memorial Hospital and now we wait.  Mike was in his car already driving so he drove straight to the hospital.  Andy said he was getting in the car asap.  I now called Deb and asked her if she could take the girls with her to the ranch because I didn't want to leave the phone.  No problem. 
A couple of hours went by and we now had some information.  Dad's heart was beating and he was in critical condition and since they didn't know how long he had been laying at the end of the driveway in the snow until the paramedics got there they didn't know if he had any brain damage.  They really couldn't tell what the outcome would be so they decided to do hypothermia therapy.  http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29445694.html
Here is a link to read about it.  Very interesting.
That is when I decided we needed to beat feet and get to MN.  I called Deb, cancelled the ranch, called work and told them I'd be leaving and since I had a full schedule I wouldn't be able to work.  Fortunately, my job is extremely accommodating.  We packed and that night I had some errands to run.  Library books, cookies delivered, etc.  I got home at 8 or so and we opened all of our presents.  It was a very odd thing not really being Christmas.  We left, with our dog, at 5 in the morning.  We drove straight through.  It was a long, long drive but we arrived at my Dads at 11pm.  My brother , his wife and their 3 kids were waiting for us and they, as we, were so excited to see them.  We stayed up talking until well after midnight. 
We woke up the next morning and Jack, Andy and me went to see my Dad.  Since he was in ICU I didn't want the girls to see him until I knew what was up.  Sharon, my sister-in-law stayed at home with all 5 kids.  She's a saint.  I love her.
We walked into the room where my dad was and he was hooked up to the many machines but not as many as the day before, according to my brothers.  He looked good considering he had just been frozen and defrosted.  Literally.   I said hi to him and he opened his eyes and looked at me.  Jack said hi and so did Andy.  My dad shed some tears.  He couldn't talk to us but we talked to him.  We kept telling him to squeeze our hand and we were telling him that we were all staying at the house.  He seemed to be listening. 
After a while, we left and went back to the house. I went and picked up some groceries and friends of Andy's brought over food.  Dinner, snacks, wine, pop.  It was incredible.  The neighbor brought over food as well.  We were set.  It was extremely thoughtful and so appreciated.  So now, we are all in the house.  Jack, Jordan, Hannah, Mike, Andy, Sharon, Rachael, Jack, Zane, Tom, Tammy, Annika, Jesse and me.  It was fun, hectic, and family.  All 7 kids, cousins, were having the time of their lives.  It was good to be home in the comfort of my family and not waiting by the phone in CO, wondering. 
We got to bed late. 
The next morning was the day of Christmas Eve.  We got up and my cousin, Steve, called and said to bring all of our kids over to his house so we didn't have to worry about them.  Jack offered to bring them to Steve's while Andy, Sharon, and I could go be with Dad.  Since it was Christmas Eve and Steve lives 30 min away I packed up Jack and the girls for the day and told them I'd bring their clothes to my Aunts house later since that is where we will all be meeting for dinner.  They left and we were back at the hospital.  We got to the ICU room where Dad was and he was now opening his eyes and trying to talk.  He clearly had things to say and we were all ears.  It was so hard to understand him but we did and he wanted to talk so we let him.  It was a good sign.  We stayed with him for the day and went back to the house to regroup.  I was so tired and I crawled in bed, under the covers and closed my eyes.  The phone rang and it was for me so I got up and talked.  I love my friends.  They care.
Now it was time to get in the shower, wake up and drink some coffee.  We were on our way to my Aunts house for dinner.  We walked in and it was so welcoming and inviting and BEAUTIFUL!!  Her house is lovely and the Christmas decorations were festive and wonderful.  We met my entire family, on my Moms side there and had a wonderful time.  Dad was better, there was snow on the ground,  I was with my entire family.  We, all 32 of us, held hands in a circle and said a prayer.  It was amazing.  The night was perfect, except my dad wasn't there and we told stories of my mom and dad and of all of us growing up together and the memories were fun to talk about.  It was late and we left and Mike, Kerry and myself went back to the hospital.  There are no visiting hours when someone is in ICU so we showed up late and didn't leave until after 11:30.  Mike and Kerry dropped me off and I crashed.  It was good to see Dad on Christmas Eve.  Having him still with us and getting slowly better was incredible.  But I still had my doubts. 
We woke up on Christmas morning at 8:30 and all of the kids, except Rachael, were still sound asleep.  She was quietly reading a book on the couch.  The day before, since my dad didn't do any decorating, I found a tiny fake tree, maybe 3 feet tall in the closet and we stood it out in the living room and placed gifts around it.  Most of the gifts were the ones Andy and Sharon brought with them from Madison but I did to to Target and picked up a couple of gifts for the girls and then, of course, Santa found his way to MN so their big gift was under the tree.  The kids finally woke up and we watched them open presents.  After presents we made bacon, eggs and toast and Andy and Sharon and their family went to church.  Jordan wanted to go to church so I asked Hannah if she wanted to go visit Grandpa with me.  Yes, she did.  The two of us drove to the hospital and I was getting her prepared for seeing him.  I didn't want her to be sad or scared so the talk was necessary.  We walked in the room and there was my dad, sitting in a chair.  No breathing tube, no oxygen mask, only a feeding tube.  He was alert and aware.  He was ecstatic to see us.  He was talking, not well, but talking.  Hannah wasn't even phased.  We stayed and talked to a few nurses and a Dr. and everyone was amazed at his recovery.  He was on the mend.
To be continued...