June 2, 2010

4:15 this morning Poppy “bounced” me out of bed. I was in a dead sleep and had no desire to start my day at that hour. But, okay, I can’t do a thing about it so get going….I ran right back to see what Mamaw was doing when I got back in the house. She’s putting on deodorant and clothes—shoes and socks—what the h***? She doesn’t take any time to rub my tummy or cuddle with me or offer to have a love fest—I think its hurry up and go.

Poppy said he was runnin to the gas station to get some gas and I heard her say, “I’ll try to be ready when you get back.” She grabs my bag and starts filling it up with water bottles, food, poop sacks, apples and extra stuff she’s never put in there before. It makes me wonder where I’m goin today. Poppy’s comin in the garage door and they’re getting my leash—I’m goin – somewhere. We get in the car and off we go—people; it’s dark out there at 5:00 a.m.! Off we go, the man in the GPS is telling us when and where to turn and I’m lookin all over for him but can’t find him. I can’t settle down—I’m tryin to figure out what’s goin on. We drive for a really long time and Poppy pulls off the road to pick somebody up. Oh, it’s Kathryn—his sister, Betty’s daughter. Mamaw and I climb in the back seat so Kathryn can sit up front with Poppy. Now that’s the first time I’ve ridden back there but ya know it wasn’t bad at all. I could have stretched out more but I didn’t want to. I just snuggled in the corner and said, “Okay Poppy, take me where we’re goin.”

We drove a long way cause we went to Lincoln, Nebraska to get Betty (you know, the lovely lady that had the stroke) and bring her back to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines for intensive therapy. When we got there, I couldn’t go in so Mamaw put my special “contraption” on me and we got out of the car. I was scared—I didn’t know which way to go—I had to look to Mamaw for complete instruction and cars were coming and going and…well, I didn’t like it. We stayed out long enough for me to find some grass to poop in, clean up my mess, dispose of it and get back in the car.

Here comes Betty in the wheelchair—oh my God; she sees me. Hi Betty, Hi Betty! Get in, get in. Oh, she can’t get in by herself. Two nurse’s aides had to help her cause she is paralyzed on the left side of her body. I could tell it was really painful for her but she took it like a trooper. There was discussion of a kidnapping as plan B if they gave us any trouble getting her today but I guess third time is the charm. (big secret) We decided to get the h*** out of there before they tried to stop us.

Kathryn, Mamaw and me sat in the back on the ride back to that town called Avoca. We got along great and I slept some more. I knew it was goin to be a long way again so I snuggled down. Finally the man in the car GPS said we needed to turn in at Wings cause we had to let Kathryn out so she could go home to Denison. She is so tired—I hope she rests when she gets home. And Poppy too—I can see how tired he is. Maybe we’ll all get home and rest after we get Betty to Mercy Hospital. When I woke up the next time, we were at the hospital. Poppy made all the arrangements for his sister and Mamaw and I once again put on my “apparatus” and went for a walk. I pooped; she cleaned up, disposed of it and decided we needed to get a few pictures for my travel album.

And finally, we can go home. Mamaw nearly ran to the bedroom for a nap. Well, after she put stuff away that is. And I went right along with her. Poppy stayed reclined on the couch and we could hear him snoring. Later he came to the bedroom and peeked in at us—I opened one eye to look—I think Mamaw did too. And then we slept a little longer. LONG DAY…but good to have you back in Des Moines Betty!