Hello on the Day after Christmas

ear Friends,
Linda and I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family members and close friends.

We had a Christmas Day to remember, but it was on the other side of normal.
I will explain what this means. I am at the computer checking and sending e-mails a little after 9 AM on Christmas Day when the telephone rings. I saw on the caller I.D. that it was my father calling. I assumed the call was to wish Linda and I a Merry Christmas. Not!
He said that he was taking dear old mom to the emergency room. Mom had fallen about a week ago when she woke up one morning. She fell pretty hard. She tried to cover up the pain from her injuries for several days. Well she couldn't stand the back pain which she was experiencing, and realized that she needed medical attention.
Linda and I , and my sister and her husband all met at the emergency room.
For a couple of hours, the medical staff did all kinds of x-rays, ultrasound, etc. and determined that she had a progressive fracture of a vertebrae. This means a fracture upon a previous fracture.They also noticed that an aneurysm had increased in size since her last X-ray was taken. They admitted my mom.

The delicious ham dinner with my parents, two aunts, and one uncle didn't happen. The ham is still sitting in the garage in a cooler.
After calling the guests up, and explaining the situation, we decided that we have enough food in the house to make up packages of food for the relatives. While they were admitting dear old mom, Linda and I went home, and made up food packages for all of them including my father, who remained at the hospital. We delivered to food to all of them.
Once Mom was situated in her hospital room, everyone left for their homes. Linda and I had to go to Lee to pick up a small bag of clothes for my Mom. We took the bag to my sisters house (since she was going to visit mom before mom went to bed), and ate a few pieces of the wonderful ham that her family cooked. We socialized for a while. Linda took pictures of Marie and Tom's grandchildren Matthew, and Malakai.
No, our day didn't end. We made our last planned visit to our friends in Dalton. We arrived just in time for dessert. After their house full of guests left, the host fixed us a plate of what they had for their main meal. We stayed until after my Boston Celtics got beat by the Lakers. We arrived home pretty much exhausted.

My sister is at the hospital right now. She wants to be there when the Doctors make their 6 AM rounds to see what is going to happen next with Mom. She might require an operation, but we don't know for sure.

Of course, my guilt is starting to mount because we are flying out to Kansas on Sunday to see our son and his wife, and our grandchild. We are also planning on going to Boston on Saturday to exchange gifts with Kevin and Kyla before out trip. The guilt is severe because my sister, who will have to deal with this crisis, is in an elbow cast, experiencing a good deal of pain, and is not supposed to drive.

Well, I have so many things on my mind right now including trying to figure out what to pack for our trip, getting rid of leftovers in the refrigerator, going to visit Mom in the hospital, making sure dad is okay since he will be alone in his house for many days.
Yes, I know that I am not alone in dealing with aging parents, but this latest crisis is new for Linda and I.

Have to go and decide what to do first.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad