So after my week in AZ a couple weeks ago, with my dad and stepmom going into assisted living, I get a call a week ago on a Friday night from my stepmom, telling me that my dad had fallen and was bleeding all OVER the place (cut on his arm--he takes blood thinners and bleeds easily). She said he was refusing to let her take him to Urgent Care to have it looked at. While we were on the phone, he started bleeding again (she had bandaged it but bandage pulled off). She said she was going to insist he go, and I told her I'd call 911 if he didn't. She called back a few minutes later to tell me he was letting her take him and she'd call me later. About an hour later she calls me, in tears, to say he couldn't get out of the chair and seemed confused so she called 911 and the ambulance took him to the hospital to be checked for a possible stroke. I got her calmed down, called a friend of hers to take her to the hospital (she wanted to drive), and told her I was coming back down there.
So I booked a flight for another week's stay and let my brother and her kids know someone else would have to take over because they can't be left alone. Long story short, he was in the hospital two nights, no apparent permanent damage (they can't give him an MRI to check for stroke due to his pacemaker). I spent all week working like a madwoman to get all their finances cleared up, got Powers of Attorney filed for both of them, I now have access to their accounts. We got the golf cart sold, I managed not to kill my passive-aggressive stepmom. My brother came down the day I left (we actually got to have breakfast together at the airport as we passed like two ships in the night), and he will stay there till Thursday this week, when my stepbrother and his wife come down to get their stuff packed and my OTHER stepbrother (a truck driver) loads up their stuff for the big move. Dad and stepmom have a flight booked for next Tuesday, my brother will come back to drive their car and their dog up to Oregon for them.
It's been absolute insanity, but it seems like it's all coming together. Thank goodness the kids are all being cooperative and working together on this. They've all been very supportive/appreciative of the work I did, and I'm happy to let them take over. It was 120 degrees in Chandler AZ yesterday, so I got out in the nick of time. I feel for my brother and step siblings. My stepmom has two mentally disabled daughters who are completely out of all of this, but also one daughter back in Oregon who will help out once they get up there to get them settled.
My boss had to handle a training I was scheduled to present in Brooklyn last week, and I had to spend a couple of hours on the phone with her helping her prep, but my office was awesome in accommodating this family emergency--they authorized me to take sick time all of last week, and I am SO grateful.
So all the pieces are coming together, but I feel ready to collapse. I have about 3/4 of an inch of gray roots right now (Anvil--I took my Madison Reed hair color with me but had no time to do it--I'll do it tomorrow night
).
I'm just catching up with the goings-on here. Hope everyone's doing well. Remember, even if things seem horrible and chaotic, keep moving forward and things will get better.