not quite the day planned

Here's what I had originally planned for today:
1) Attend church. I had paid for the flowers for the day's service, in honor and memory of the 34th anniversary of Mama and Frank. That cost was $60, a number I have been especially appreciating this year.
2) Attend the cookout in Pooler. Even though I was no longer part of the "Born in the 50's and 50's" meetup group, Karen had personally invited me to come out and join them. I had signed up for this party before leaving meetup and I still wanted to go.
3) Watch "Tangled" at 6 PM. I missed the last "Dream Big, Princess" film from Disney and wanted to make sure I saw this one, perhaps with Carolyn. I especially wanted to make sure I maximized use of my AMC A*List membership to actually see three movies this week, a goal I've fallen short of the last few weeks.
4) Go with my movie-going g'friends for an 8 PM flick. We four have not been to the movies together for a couple of weeks. This would be a perfect end to the day!

Well, at least I did accomplish the first item.
I was even dressed nicely, wearing my peach skort and a new, paler peach, top with fancy latticework on the front.
The sermon by Reverend Billy was absolutely amazingly hot-topic. Anti-misogyny, anti-sexism, anti-ageism, anti-marketing campaigns that make people feel unworthy. He correlated the message in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" - eat this [apple] and you'll be smarter, prettier, sexier - to that in Genesis - eat this apple] and you'll be smarter, prettier, sexier. I will definitely be listening to that one again!
Afterward, as I was trying to take the above photo, I saw a waiting message.
Who might be contacting me?
My ex? Barbara? Carolyn? My stepsister Jean? Karen the Boomer?
Sadly, no.
It was Terri of the car wash.
"Have you seen Ronnie lately? His face has been beaten up pretty badly. The swelling over his left eye is extreme. He said it was three days old. I've seen black eyes on him before but never this bad."
He had just left their place.
So, I went in search of him instead of going to Pooler.

By 12:54 PM, after driving around and checking the latest lead, I found him.
He was behind the Marathon gas station in his neck of the woods, drinking a beer.
Teresa and her dog, Link, were keeping him company, as was Randy the liar.
He was coherent and making jokes, so that told me he was not hurt as badly as he looked.


Still, the wound on the left side of his face looked infected.
After he finished his beer and smoke, we headed for Memorial Hospital.
He had told Terri and Hobe that he went there after it happened.
The hospital had no record of it.
Sigh.

So, I settled in to wait it out, still hopeful of a quick resolution, trying to be as positive as I could.
His left shoulder, of course, had never healed, so
they took a new X-ray of it.
They also took an X-ray of his face to check for breaks,
and did a CT scan to check for internal bleeding.
Every time we were waiting for the next orderly to take him for a test, he would complain loudly about wanting a cigarette, about leaving for a smoke.
Sigh.

Three hours later, we were back in Examination Room 3
for the results.
No breaks, no signs of brain swelling, just mild infection.
i thank You, God.
The nurse cleaned all scrapes all over his arms, hands, face, then apply bacitracin to ward off infection,
to aid healing.
He signed the paperwork for his release and we left...
though we didn't drive off until after his smoke.

Nicely, he found a penny right by my car, where I had been standing.
I was retrieving the backpack I'd bought him at Sears, the underwear at Rite-Aid.
The penny reassured me: right place, right time.
My car echoed the sentiment, with the odometer clicking over to 200,200.
i thank You, God.

He had talked of wanting a pot pie from KFC, but he'd changed his mind at the counter.
The 3-piece chicken fingers instead... then didn't eat any of it.
I did convince him to eat one of the cookies, keeping me company while I ate the grilled chicken breast.
When I was finally done, we gathered our things.
He was going back over to the gas station and have a beer.
No ride, he wanted to walk... so we hugged and made plans for 2 PM tomorrow at DQ.

I went straight home.
The time was 5:17 PM when I drove off.
I felt like these bedraggled roses look:
beaten down, pieces scattered about, spent -
but still trying to add some cheer to the world.
I had thought of still going to the Disney movie,
but I never got out of the house in time.
I checked movie listings for other movies, too -
but I never went toward the door to leave.

I'm glad I was home.
My youngest brother, Tony, had told me he was cooking a Boston butt in the crockpot. Would I like to have some? Did I want some Johnny Harris sauce on it?
Yes, that would be very nice, I told him.
Just before 8 PM, my phone rang.
It was Tony, letting me know he'd pulled some meat for me and sauced it. Would I like for him to bring it or did I want to pick it up tomorrow?
I walked down the seven houses to his, enjoying the night air. I got hugs from him, hugs from Laura, too, finally home from work. I was shown their latest home-decorating projects. What a magazine-ready bedroom they have! What crisp paint lines between walls and ceiling in the front bedroom!
Then, I accepted more hugs, the generous helping of barbeque, and their love before walking back down the street to my house.
I may not quite be 'right as rain', but I'm certainly more at peace.
i thank You, God.