This week is Thanksgiving, and to be honest, I never really cared all that much about this holiday.
I mean, it was okay but it wasn’t a day I looked forward to. The decorations are meh at best and there is, like, one Thanksgiving song. (scroll to the end to hear the one I like!)
Since being married, most of my thanksgivings are split between two family functions and not being fully present enough to really enjoy either one before it is time to hit the road again.
Until last year.
Last Thanksgiving was different because my daddy was supposed to be dead and instead he was alive and well and his twinkling eyes were shining with mischief.
Just like always.
Last year, I met some of my family at the Outback Steakhouse to celebrate my sweet Nannie’s 86th birthday. (That was a disaster of its own sort given the fact that that particular establishment was shut down by the health department just days later. Suffice it to say, the kitchen staff was more than likely just a bunch of roaches in trench coats.) Anyway, after lunch, Mama called to say that Daddy was trying to decide if he needed to go to the urgent care or the ER. I told her if he was on the fence about where to go then just go the ER because they were probably going to send him there anyway.
Daddy had been sick since at least September and he couldn’t seem to shake whatever was ailing him. He had a telemedicine visit for antibiotics and steroids, but it was a waste of time it seemed. He had also put on a lot of water weight and had a terrible cough. He had to sleep in a praying position at the foot of the bed just to be able to breathe. While we attempted lunch with Nannie, Daddy had driven himself to Bass Pro Shop to pick up a part he ordered, and he could barely walk himself around the hood of the truck before he thought he was going to pass out. So he got back in the truck, by some miracle got home, and decided that he was going to take a shower and get to a doctor.
And that’s what he did. Because of Covid, Mama couldn’t go in with him, which made me so angry. They’ve been breathing the same dang air for 38 years; there was no way one of them had Covid and the other didn’t so just let them be sequestered in a room by themselves?!
Before anyone leaves a comment explaining the ins and outs of hospital policy: I get it. I really do.
Anyway, Daddy was in good spirits all things considered, and he did his best to keep Mama posted while she waited in the parking lot for news. I couldn’t stand not knowing, so Jared kept the girls while I went to sit with Mama in the parking lot. Katie and Asa met me and Mama there, and we had a little parking lot party. (In just a few short months we would be together again in that same parking lot but waiting for news about Asa. Spoiler alert: it was Lymphoma. Spoiler Alert Again: He has made a full recovery! What a whirlwind this past year has been!) I sat in the front seat wrapped up in Daddy’s shiny Ranger fishing jacket, when he called and told us that they were going to admit him.
When the doctor came to talk to Daddy, he told him that it was a good thing he came in because he would have been dead in just a couple of days. They did an EKG, a chest x-ray, a CT scan, an echocardiogram, and blood work and determined he had congestive heart failure.
His heart was only working at 20%.
They did the catheterization on his heart to make sure there were no blockages, which to everyone’s surprise there wasn’t (Daddy said he figured there was at least one Wendy’s Triple in there somewhere), and it was eventually determined that his heart had an electrical problem that was causing the valve in the bottom part of his heart to close at the wrong time, which meant there was a back flow of blood and his heart couldn’t keep the fluid off his lungs.
This is my unscientific explanation, obviously, but all of this explained the 30+ pounds of water weight he put on over the previous week, and why he absolutely couldn’t go any longer without getting it fixed.
Thankfully they got everything under control after a few days in the hospital and sent him home with five different medicines and wearing a life vest that we called The Shock Box. It would essentially shock him back to life “if my heart decides to cut a buck again,” Daddy said.
A year later, Daddy is doing great with no heart issues at all. His cardiologist is both surprised and thrilled.
I cannot explain to y’all the miracles that took place that week. I truly wish I could. From the lack of blockages to the favor Mama and Daddy found with the nursing staff -- the list could go on -- but let me tell you this: Daddy should have been dead several times over. And his continued existence is a testament to God’s healing power. It’s just one example of many in my family. We’ve survived a lot that we probably shouldn’t have! I’m sure I will tell y’all about it sometime.
Last Thanksgiving was special because instead of a funeral, we planned a feast.
And what a delicious and beautiful day it was--that day and every day after.
The only pictures I took last year were of pie (lol) but my sister took these cell phone snaps!
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If you've made it this far, how exciting!
My plan was to start an email subscriber list and link this post in it but also include some extra festive things for your Thanksgivings tomorrow, but like most things in my life, I am flying by the seat of my pants. I had one subscriber tell me that for some reason it gave them my home address after they subscribed!? Obviously, y'all don't need all that information, so I took the link down from my IG. For now, I will share a couple of extras that I was planning to send you in an email and hopefully get my life together one day in the near future :)
First this Thanksgiving banger:
This song has me openly weeping. I don't know why but it hits me deep in the feels.
And secondly, because my voiceover poetry has been so popular, here's a recording of me reading today's post! (also, enjoy the background noise of my dog, the fish tank, and me shifting the table around lol).
Please let me know if this works! I used to blog on a now defunct website I called Upcycled Downriver, but things have changed since then and I am still working out the kinks, obviously.
Find me on IG @tristantuttle and let's connect there if we're not already friends!