The Warning Signs When Life Stresses Catch Up – Part 1

It’s no big secret that I’ve been a little – ok a lot on the cranky side lately.  I know we all have excuses from time-to-time and most times those excuses fall on deaf ears.  But still, there’s something freeing about sharing those excuses, no matter how serious or lame they may be.

June 4th ushered in a day like no other – a day that would set the pattern for the many days and weeks to come.  The day the Midwest Floods of 2008 began – at least here in Indiana.  My family woke to over 3 feet of water in our basement.  All we could do was take a peak into the hallows, watch as the water rushed over the bottoms of the windows like a domesticated version of Niagara Falls and then we shut the door to allow Mother Nature the time and space to do whatever it was she needed to do.

At this point, there was no saving anything.

I returned upstairs to discover my precious pocket puppy Molly was acting very ill.  I tried everything I’d been taught about Yorkies but nothing seemed to work.  I snatched her up and took her to the local vet.  He treated her with IV’s and sent her home later that day. 

The next day’s weather was calm and the rains had stopped – so recovery efforts in the basement began as did every possible method of cleanup we could muster.  Which meant dropping two extra pumps in the water and hoping for the best.

Still mostly worried about Molly, I checked in on her – again she was acting very sick.  I called my husband who held her as I loaded a syringe with Karo water in hopes it was her glucose levels again.  We got a little down her when he set her on the floor.  She began having seizures and I began panicking – at that point, I could handle the flood, but losing my precious pocket puppy – that was not an option. 

It was that day we found Molly had Parvo and was rushed to the best treatment facility in Indiana where she would recover in two days. 

Cleanup began and continues to this day.  Building walls in places where they were prior to having to tear them out.  So far we’ve had to replace the furnace, their air conditioner and the water heater – as far as major appliances.  With the help of FEMA and our insurance company, we’re processing through a very slow recovery.

As I’ve had to bid farewell to many family heirlooms I had kept sacred from my childhood – items passed down from my grandmother and her mother before her – I find myself struggling to be anything above cranky, resentful and angry.  Not at any one person – but at life in general.

Amid the cleanup efforts, we have three teenagers who are well, typical teenage boys and frankly land on my last nerve quite often and my husband told his daughter she could come stay as long as she wanted for the summer.  I had NO idea where we were going to put one more person let alone feed another and what’s more, how could I possibly do my job and do it well in the midst of such chaos.

Yesterday I woke, determined I was going to have a better day.  I was confessing a brighter day from the start and my mom always said “confession brings possession” so I thought I’d give it a try…I want so much to be the inspired, happy and hopeful person I was prior to one month ago…

(image: stock.xchg)