Threads in Life

I never cease to be amazed at the (apparently) inexplicable twist and turns that life takes. What threads we pull and what we find attached at the other end.

Consider the last two days in my life. Two days ago I was ill, went to see my doctors and was given a note excusing me from work for two days. A perfectly normal occurrence. However this is where the plot thickens and events overtake whatever I had in mind. Instead of having a good sleep that night and recuperating on the second day I found myself waiting in the Emergency Department of a major hospital.

This is what happened. My son-in-law, call him David, a very active but Stoic man came home from work doubled over with pain. Now for him to show that sort of pain it must have been bad. His wife, call her Caroline, was concerned but thought that a good rest would help. The two of them normally do their grocery shopping on Thursday evenings, and my wife baby sits.

I was also there, expecting a quiet evening. Caroline went shopping by herself, even though my wife had volunteered to go with her. Under normal circumstances, if David was not well, this would have happened. Well, David got worse and started vomiting. At that point we both agreed that a possible bowel obstruction was the cause (my wife has knowledge of this life threatening and painful condition). I took him to ER and my wife waited for Caroline’s return. We obviously kept in touch by phone. Typical ER, you wait and wait. X-rays are taken then you wait. He finally went into observation at 1.00 am. I managed to ge some sleep the following day – my day for recuperation.

Quite amazing. Any other sequence of events could have led to a family catastrophe, but no one could ever have planned for this. (We were right, but he is now OK).