undefined
undefined
Late on a Friday night, a phone call came from North Carolina and started us on a journey. We were informed that Jeremy's step-dad was in the hospital with a staph infection that had gone into sepsis (which means that it had gone into his blood stream and had spread through his entire body). We spoke with his doctor via telephone around midnight that night and packed our suitcases immediately afterwards. We then caught a few hours of sleep in preparation for our (according to Google) twelve hour drive to see him.
I'd like to chronicle our trip for you, but I think my Facebook statuses can do a better, more entertaining and more concise job of that than I could by just blogging it. So here you go:
(Parenthetical Note: Since Jeremy calls both his dad and his step-dad "Dad" I used the terms interchangeably. Please do not be confused; only one person was sick.)
July 16 at 10:40pm
Sister-in-law, Melissa:
I hear I get to see ya'll soon! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!
July 17 at 9:34am
My response:
Yeah! We called you last night but your phone just rang and rang. It never even went to voicemail. We're on the road now. Maybe getting to NC around ten or eleven pm? We'll call when we get closer.
July 17 at 12:39pm
Status Update:
Roadtrip to NC! Lunchbreak in Columbus, OH.
July 17 at 1:02pm
Mom-in-law, Brenda:
Looks like Nonna will win the wager!!! Love ya'll be safe! Kiss n hug the girls and my doggies!!!
(They had placed bets on how long our trip would REALLY take us.)
July 17 at 1:07pm
My response:
What were everybody's guesses? I say one am!
July 17 at 1:12pm
Mom-in-law, Brenda:
Well, we didn't pick actual times, only how many hours. So what time did ya'll leave? Around 9am?
July 17 at 2:16pm
My response:
You're right on the dot, despite Jeremy's plan that we would carry our sleeping children to the car at five o'clock this morning! Haha!
(Jeremy's notorious for making early plans the night before and then not waking up in time to carry them out.)
July 17 at 2:35pm
Mom-in-law, Brenda:
LOL!! Nonna is always right so remember that one and pass it along!!! LOL!!!
July 17 at 2:26pm
Status Update:
Whew! After two non-air-conditioned hours filled with lunch, diaper changes, a blocked-off interstate and navigational recalculations, we have finally put Columbus behind us! And the air is working again, hooray!
July 17 at 4:55pm
Brother, Zach:
Air not working in your van?
July 17 at 5:42pm
My Response:
Well, yes and no. The air works fine, but Winnie's engine threatens to cut off if she is not traveling more than 25 miles per hour while the air is on. Since we were crawling through a traffic jam for two hours, we chose to turn our air off to give our poor little engine a chance to calm down and realize life is not as bad as she thought.
Only problem with that is that without air conditioning, we quickly realized that Winnie was right. Life's awful! lol
July 17 at 4:41pm
Status Update:
West Virginia
(Can you tell that Jeremy posted for me? He's not as verbose as I am. I was driving, so I couldn't update, but I told him that I really wanted everyone to know when we passed the state Welcome signs each time.)
July 17 at 6:01pm
Status Update:
My heroic husband, Jeremy, just scored a Butterfinger candy bar from our quick, gas station pit stop for the family to share. What a man! :-)
July 17 at 7:49pm
Status Update:
Virginia!
(I was driving again, but this time I specified to Jeremy that I wanted him to put an exclamation point after the state. "This is exciting stuff!" I told him. He laughed at me, but he gave me an exclamation point. Isn't he wonderful?)
July 17 at 8:17pm
Status Update:
Wheeeeee! Love these mountain roads!
July 17 at 9:13pm
Status Update:
Whoops, apparently Mercy's poor tummy DOESN'T like these twisty mountain roads as much as I do. Her "pink blanket" (which is actually blue -- we're still working on her colors) is now out of commission until we get to a washing machine.
July 17 at 10:06pm
Status Update:
North Carolina!!!!!!!!!
(That was Jeremy again, but look at all those exclamation points! He did me proud that time, or maybe he was really excited that the trip was about to end?)
July 17 at 11:45pm
Status Update:
Google says two hours left. I'm so tired.
July 18 at 1:12am
Status Update:
We're driving through downtown Raleigh, and Jeremy's reminiscing. Stories are pouring out of him. :-). I love it!
(What I thought was even better was the fact that we did not need to be in downtown Raleigh at that point in time. Jeremy just couldn't resist his old stomping ground.)
July 18 at 2:15am
Status Update:
Uncle Rom and Aunt Donna's driveway! At last!
July 18 at 2:16am
"T"om
(I was tired. So very, very tired.)
July 19 at 7:55pm
Status Update:
Thanks, everyone, for your prayers and encouraging words to us. Jeremy's dad seems to be improving, and the two of them were finally able to have some good conversations today! Please keep praying. In the meantime, we are squeezing in some great laughter and some relieving tear-sessions with FAMILY.
July 19 at 8:29pm
Status Update:
Jeremy and I just realized that today is our seventh wedding anniversary!!!! We told each other "Congratulations!" and shared a cup of banana pudding from Smithfield's BBQ to celebrate. :-)
After several days spent with Jeremy's step-dad and extended family, we realized that we could not stay much longer. On Thursday, we headed North again.
July 22 at 11:25am
Status Update:
Starting our looong journey home. Please keep praying for Jeremy's step-dad.
July 22 at 9:12pm
Status Update:
Gorgeous sunset in Ohio! Stopping at my brother's house for the night.
(We stayed the weekend.)
July 25 at 4:59pm
Status Update:
A hard/wonderful week in NC followed by a tiring/fun weekend in OH has come to an end. I LOVED our time with family, but I am thankful that I am about to be reunited with my own bed. On the road yet again... (Please keep praying for Jeremy's dad.)
July 26 around 11:00 pm
Excerpt from my comment response:
We're home now and slowly unpacking the car, catching up on sleep...you know, all those back home again kind of things. What a week this has been!
July 26 around 11:10 pm
Status Update:
Just got a phone call: Jeremy's step-dad is doing better, and the doctors are making plans for the next step in his recovery! Hooray! Thank you all for praying for him.
I'd like to chronicle our trip for you, but I think my Facebook statuses can do a better, more entertaining and more concise job of that than I could by just blogging it. So here you go:
(Parenthetical Note: Since Jeremy calls both his dad and his step-dad "Dad" I used the terms interchangeably. Please do not be confused; only one person was sick.)
July 16 at 10:40pm
Sister-in-law, Melissa:
I hear I get to see ya'll soon! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!
July 17 at 9:34am
My response:
Yeah! We called you last night but your phone just rang and rang. It never even went to voicemail. We're on the road now. Maybe getting to NC around ten or eleven pm? We'll call when we get closer.
July 17 at 12:39pm
Status Update:
Roadtrip to NC! Lunchbreak in Columbus, OH.
July 17 at 1:02pm
Mom-in-law, Brenda:
Looks like Nonna will win the wager!!! Love ya'll be safe! Kiss n hug the girls and my doggies!!!
(They had placed bets on how long our trip would REALLY take us.)
July 17 at 1:07pm
My response:
What were everybody's guesses? I say one am!
July 17 at 1:12pm
Mom-in-law, Brenda:
Well, we didn't pick actual times, only how many hours. So what time did ya'll leave? Around 9am?
July 17 at 2:16pm
My response:
You're right on the dot, despite Jeremy's plan that we would carry our sleeping children to the car at five o'clock this morning! Haha!
(Jeremy's notorious for making early plans the night before and then not waking up in time to carry them out.)
July 17 at 2:35pm
Mom-in-law, Brenda:
LOL!! Nonna is always right so remember that one and pass it along!!! LOL!!!
July 17 at 2:26pm
Status Update:
Whew! After two non-air-conditioned hours filled with lunch, diaper changes, a blocked-off interstate and navigational recalculations, we have finally put Columbus behind us! And the air is working again, hooray!
July 17 at 4:55pm
Brother, Zach:
Air not working in your van?
July 17 at 5:42pm
My Response:
Well, yes and no. The air works fine, but Winnie's engine threatens to cut off if she is not traveling more than 25 miles per hour while the air is on. Since we were crawling through a traffic jam for two hours, we chose to turn our air off to give our poor little engine a chance to calm down and realize life is not as bad as she thought.
Only problem with that is that without air conditioning, we quickly realized that Winnie was right. Life's awful! lol
July 17 at 4:41pm
Status Update:
West Virginia
(Can you tell that Jeremy posted for me? He's not as verbose as I am. I was driving, so I couldn't update, but I told him that I really wanted everyone to know when we passed the state Welcome signs each time.)
July 17 at 6:01pm
Status Update:
My heroic husband, Jeremy, just scored a Butterfinger candy bar from our quick, gas station pit stop for the family to share. What a man! :-)
July 17 at 7:49pm
Status Update:
Virginia!
(I was driving again, but this time I specified to Jeremy that I wanted him to put an exclamation point after the state. "This is exciting stuff!" I told him. He laughed at me, but he gave me an exclamation point. Isn't he wonderful?)
July 17 at 8:17pm
Status Update:
Wheeeeee! Love these mountain roads!
July 17 at 9:13pm
Status Update:
Whoops, apparently Mercy's poor tummy DOESN'T like these twisty mountain roads as much as I do. Her "pink blanket" (which is actually blue -- we're still working on her colors) is now out of commission until we get to a washing machine.
July 17 at 10:06pm
Status Update:
North Carolina!!!!!!!!!
(That was Jeremy again, but look at all those exclamation points! He did me proud that time, or maybe he was really excited that the trip was about to end?)
July 17 at 11:45pm
Status Update:
Google says two hours left. I'm so tired.
July 18 at 1:12am
Status Update:
We're driving through downtown Raleigh, and Jeremy's reminiscing. Stories are pouring out of him. :-). I love it!
(What I thought was even better was the fact that we did not need to be in downtown Raleigh at that point in time. Jeremy just couldn't resist his old stomping ground.)
July 18 at 2:15am
Status Update:
Uncle Rom and Aunt Donna's driveway! At last!
July 18 at 2:16am
"T"om
(I was tired. So very, very tired.)
July 19 at 7:55pm
Status Update:
Thanks, everyone, for your prayers and encouraging words to us. Jeremy's dad seems to be improving, and the two of them were finally able to have some good conversations today! Please keep praying. In the meantime, we are squeezing in some great laughter and some relieving tear-sessions with FAMILY.
July 19 at 8:29pm
Status Update:
Jeremy and I just realized that today is our seventh wedding anniversary!!!! We told each other "Congratulations!" and shared a cup of banana pudding from Smithfield's BBQ to celebrate. :-)
After several days spent with Jeremy's step-dad and extended family, we realized that we could not stay much longer. On Thursday, we headed North again.
July 22 at 11:25am
Status Update:
Starting our looong journey home. Please keep praying for Jeremy's step-dad.
July 22 at 9:12pm
Status Update:
Gorgeous sunset in Ohio! Stopping at my brother's house for the night.
(We stayed the weekend.)
July 25 at 4:59pm
Status Update:
A hard/wonderful week in NC followed by a tiring/fun weekend in OH has come to an end. I LOVED our time with family, but I am thankful that I am about to be reunited with my own bed. On the road yet again... (Please keep praying for Jeremy's dad.)
July 26 around 11:00 pm
Excerpt from my comment response:
We're home now and slowly unpacking the car, catching up on sleep...you know, all those back home again kind of things. What a week this has been!
July 26 around 11:10 pm
Status Update:
Just got a phone call: Jeremy's step-dad is doing better, and the doctors are making plans for the next step in his recovery! Hooray! Thank you all for praying for him.