Well first and foremost, allow me to swear to you every word is true. You just can’t make this stuff up. I think of it every Mother’s day and laugh till tears roll. I hope you can understand a little crazy and a panic stricken moment when some folks just think this way. I have no clue why this happened and other alternatives were not sought but this actually happened and I would post it in Believe it or not but I think I would have to use real names.. I truly wish it had been caught on camera as the visual is what tears me up up so very badly.
We have all heard the you might be a redneck if jokes but this is no joke. Back in the 90’s my older sister ( a very good person but votes republican except for when she voted Jimmy Carter) was married for over 35 years to a hardworking union man who was a yellow dog democrat. He was a good provider and loved his family very much.
He made sure they had their needs and WANTS met. He took his Mother in and cared for her after his Father died. I will call him Grover. Grover was a workalcholic and carpenter but he had a bit of a problem with strong drink. He was also half Cherokee and folks know fire water and Indian does not mix very well, usually. He was not a mean drinker but was not clear thinking when he had a few.
He also purchased a home in Florida that housed my Mother rent free, which he had bought as a second home for my sister and allowed my Mom to live there.. so he actually took care of both his Mother and our Mother in many ways financially. He was also a fishing fan and had boats, motors, one new car and one new truck . He worked for GM. The new truck he purchased every year.. A perk of working for GM I guess.
Grover is no longer with us as he passed away in 2004 from COPD but some of the things old Grover did would just bug your eyes out from a WTH…when he did them.
One particuliar situation makes me fall over laughing every single time I recall the incident.
Grover had left the Florida home and left my sister down there to visit with Mama and he did not drink around my sister because she was totally against it. His Mother wanted to come home anyway as they were all visiting and she had told Grover she did not feel well. She was up in years and he told my sister to stay as he had to take Mama home and no need for her to give up her vacation time and he would be back to pick her up the next weekend. This all happened in 1996 as I recall.
Grover’s Mama was used to being cared for by my sister but Grover was bound and determined while his month long vacation was there, it gave him more time to spend with his Mama and he didn’t need my sister pampering over her as he was quite capable of tending to her needs. She was a frail, small, soft spoken woman who went along with almost everything.. Very sweet.
Grover was not a slow poke driver, in fact, he felt 85 was almost turtle speed. No body liked riding with him as he drove like a bat out of hell normally. Mrs. X, Grover’s Mama, had been diagnosed with diverenticulitis but it actually turned out to be cancer in the long run and on Friday she started complaining about stomach pain. Grover realized he was not that good at remembering meds so he had me come over and lay out in small med cups what she was to take and when. The lady never complained about anything. She told me she would be fine after her meds were taken so I left.
Grover, as I said was a workalcholic and worked in the yard and house constantly. He was the go to guy when anyone needed anything in the way of tools, or home repair. He kept things all locked up in his shed which was not on his mechanic’s tool box perched on the truck.
Grover was no good in a crisis situation. My sister had the cool head and Grover was a worry wart. He would give you the shirt off his back and all his money in the bank but you better not scratch that truck or even lean against it. Friday came and went and Grover’s mother was starting to hurt very badly and he told her she needed to see a doctor and he was beginning to get agitated that cool head was not there.
The next thing that happened blew my mind, has no rhyme or reason and still to this day makes me go What the Hell !!!! My Mother called at 11:00 PM laughing but trying not to as my sister was ranting and raving in the background. This call was coming from Florida keep in mind.
Mother said, and I quote, ” Can you get up to the hospital and check on Mrs. XXXXX for your sister”? I could still hear my sister yelling ” How stupid can you get”? Idiot !!!
Just let me get home and I guarantee you I will trade that truck in !!! ( those kind of things). I was in the dark of course but my eyes begin to bulge as Mama explained between outright bursts of laughter of what was happening.
She said, ” Do you know what Grover did”? Of course I didn’t. I could barely understand Mama from her trying not to laugh and my sister ranting. She told me when Grover’s Mama couldn’t sit down or walk for pain, he went into panic mode and did the most
bizarre thing we ever heard. She said, ” Instead of calling an ambulance he put his Mother in a handtruck, tied her in..secured the straps with bungee cord and drove her to the hospital in the back of his pickup truck because he only had the front seat and she couldn’t sit down. OK.. I am pretty freaked out …Then I hear Mama tell me her hair was flying straight up and my sister said she probably had bugs in her false teeth.
OK I find out she is OK but I fell apart laughing over the initial shock that someone in a panic would do such a thing.
The thing that remains a mystery is WHY that poor soul allowed him to strap her in the back of a pickup truck instead of calling an ambulance, but she always said she never wanted to be a bother….#2..Why did he not call me or a neighbor to get their quick if he didn’t call an ambulance…#3…Was he not concerned with the medical attendants having to take her out of the hand truck and place her on a gurney#4 and how did he escape a charge of abuse to the elderly? When I got to the hospital I asked some of these questions as she was being released and he said, ” I don’t know, all I could think was get Mama to the hospital”. The only thing the lady said in ER was that she hoped I would be driving Mrs. XXXXX home as her son was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I asked Grover had he been drinking and he said, ” Just two beers”. I’m OK now. I was speechless and I got poor old Mrs XXXXX in the front seat and she smiled and said, ” Well dear, don’t go too fast, that was quite a ride”. I shook my head and her hair was still mangled and standing on end from the wind.. I was in a bit of a shock state. I told my sister I would stay with her till she got home and I was sending him after her immediately. She agreed and thanked me. We hid the handtrucks.
Grover was a good guy but nobody wanted him around when an emergency hit.
I remember telling her ” Happy Mothers Day” ! Maybe I have a warped sense of humor but to me considering no one was hurt…that there is some funny but embarassing stuff.
I also think of her when I see Vacation and the Auntie on top of the car.
How I remembered all this today, is I said to Vet today, ” Trust me” and he said, ” As long as you don’t tie me to a handtruck and take me for medical care..” I fell apart laughing.