Well, after four years in the Peace Corps (Cameroon and China) I’m finally back in the USA for a while- at least two years of grad school. It’s good to be back. I’m getting excited about the future and (super) excited about the chance to start meeting some new people- especially some new male people. I’ve been doing all kinds of shopping getting some good stuff (like a shiny iPhone 4 and the first pair of heels I’ve ever been able to walk in) before buckling down to my grad school budget.
My timing, however, has been good and bad. Good because I can be here for my family, and bad because all this stuff is happening.
My grandfather was admitted to the hospital just days before I came back. He suddenly stopped being able to walk. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he had a nasty round of alcohol withdrawal, to the point that he didn’t recognize family members. He’s pretty much normal mentally now, and has been in the hospital for three weeks, and my whole family is stressed to the breaking point. My grandmother has trouble walking (something I didn’t even know until I saw her at the airport!) and so my mother (who thankfully took a few weeks off to be with me) has been shuttling her back and forth to the hospital. She’s also been trying to maintain my grandparents’ house, make sure their dog gets walked, etc. Now he’s been transfered to a hospital in a town an hour and a half away. So far we’ve just been driving it every day. But really, we were barely keeping things together when the hospital was ten minutes away.
Today it became pretty clear the the goal has shifted away from hoping he could walk and towards getting him ready for life in a wheelchair. My grandmother is just devastated. He was a strong and lively man who spent all day working and gardening. Their house is nowhere near ready for a wheelchair, and it’s doubtful it could get there. There is talk of nursing homes and even switching houses with other family members. My grandmother feels like she just can’t take care of him in her state. Whatever happens, a lot is about to change for everyone.
So today I finally got a day in San Francisco to visit my old friends- really the only non-family time since I’ve been back. Then I visited my grandfather and drove back home with the family. We came home exhausted and ready to go to sleep.
Then we hear my uncle had a stroke. He’s in the hospital now with friends, and he is okay. But it was a real full-on stroke, and we don’t know the whole story yet.
I leave for DC in a few days. I still don’t have a place to live. It’s looking like I’m going to have to start classes living in a hostel. I can handle that, but I wish it were different.
Anyway, I’m too worked up to sleep right now. I know things are going to be all right, but it’s going to take some time to get there, and there are some big changes to get through. I’m glad to be back and glad to be here as best I can for my family- I’d hate to be some far away land through all of this. But man, it’s not time for all of this yet. We weren’t ready.