I promised to share the experiences in my life that have taught me to "Be Prepared" throughout the month of September. Here is part two:
(Read in your inner Estelle Getty voice) Picture it. Rural Indiana. 1978.
It was the year I turned 12. You know, puberty, boys, awkwardness... all the things that make you cringe now. My birthday was in January and the year rolled on as normal as it could get (if you don't count the blizzard in February.) Day turned to day to day to day.... until the next one, when the bottom fell out of my world. Leukemia struck my dad. When you're 12, you don't even know what leukemia is. You just know that everything is going to change. It's not just a diagnosis, it's a new series of happenings. People start whispering around you, conversations stop when you walk in a room. And the glances of pity- before quickly looking away. like you're contagious- are the new normal. Besides emotional upheaval and changes in relationships, physically existing took on a whole new performance, also. Those are the changes that led to the next preparedness lesson ingrained in the fabric of my life.
Back in that time period, the treatment for leukemia was provided at the university medical center in Indianapolis. We lived 3+ driving hours from there. It made appointments a day-long excursion. But that was only a mild inconvenience. The real struggle came when emergencies arose. Because his immune system was practically non-existent, every time he started to show the slightest hint of a fever, he had to be rushed to that medical center. This happened too many times to count. The awful part about fevers is they don't announce their arrival ahead of time. We had no idea if they would come at noon or midnight, or any time in between! Getting awakened at two in the morning and sliding into the car by 2:15 wasn't only a reality, it was absolutely necessary. My sisters (ages 10 and 7 at the time) and I rarely had advance notice of whose house we were going to end up at. We slept in so many different beds and will be forever grateful to the aunts, cousins, grandparents, and friends who took us in on such short notice.
Along with our tired bodies: clothing, toiletries, homework... it all had to be ready to go at a moments notice. At the time, I had a newspaper route. We all three played softball. One of us was a cheerleader. All that extra-curricular stuff had to be arranged around our living arrangements as none of us were near driving age. In a nutshell- we had to be prepared. ALL THE TIME we had to be ready to go.
Fast forward 43 years and I live in a world of great convenience. I can run to a store and get anything I need anytime I want.
Or can I?
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| My Go Bag |
Have you ever run out of baby formula and dashed to get some before the next feeding? What about packing the diaper bag a few minutes before you walk out the door? Have you ever parked your car with just enough gas to make it to the nearest station? Do you spend an hour looking for your keys? Have you ever stood in a hotel parking lot in your jammies during a fire alarm?
I can't do any of those things, thanks to growing up with my experiences. I have a go bag packed. I have necessities stashed in my car, including for my grandkids who don't even live with me. I can't go to bed until I put my keys in the grab-and-go spot. The anxiety of anything unknown that could pop-up is a real faith tester. I've found that prayer and preparing the essentials is a good way to calm it.
I miss my dad. Learning how to live without a parent is hard no matter your age. Finishing up my adolescence in a single parent home will be the next installment of my Preparedness Experiences series.
