It's been busy

[This is Calvin]

My mother went into the hospital at Mount Vernon on Thursday, September 1, and I've been busy with that for a couple of days. The doctor thinks she had a "little" stroke. He didn't say "mini stroke" and I don't really know what he means. He didn't want to talk about the fact that she was dehydrated, probably because he does a lot of business with the nursing home where she lives. Anyhow, he said she'd probably return to the state that she was in before, although he didn't sound very certain. You can't really say "get better" when a person has Alzheimer's.

Of course, some positive things usually come out of any given event. I have five brothers and a sister, and I got in touch with some of them. I'd already been more or less in touch with my sister, Mindy, who has the Power of Attorney for Mom. She did a great job with that responsibility. My brother Jeff and his wife, Pam, came to the hospital. I'd been out of touch with them for a couple of years. We spent some time talking, and I went to their house to visit for a few hours. That was nice. Homer showed up, and Alvin's wife, Little Vicky, came. Alvin had slipped in his muddy driveway and hurt his back. Wayne came in Thursday night and then brought "Little" Wayne with him yesterday. (Little Wayne is the tallest person in the family nowadays.) I got to meet Wayne III, too. He's four months old and a chunky, cute little fellow.

I really appreciate Little Vicky, Pam, and Loretta today. My brothers and I have a knack of marrying level-headed, caring, thoughtful women.

Wayne, Homer and I talked some about Hurricane Katrina devastating New Orleans. Each of us has visited New Orleans several times, and Katrina has destroyed all the places we knew. We all wonder what happened to the people who lived in the missions where we stayed. Wayne had an offshore oilfield job that put him up at the Marriott on weekends. We have all seen pictures on TV of that Marriott with many of its windows blown out. The whole thing saddens and scares me.