From 60 to Zero in less than 20 minutes...

This has been a tough day.

Things started out as planned. Mom and I made stars, Dad and my son and I picked cherry tomatoes and green beans in the garden. Mom, Kelly and I went to see my grandparents. We went to the farmer's market in Manson, and picked up a lot of good produce. We laughed, had fun, ate caramel apples, and apple pie. Dad seasoned ribs and put them in the smoker. Mallory and I started watching "Bride and Prejudice", because she had been wanting to see it.

An hour into the show, at about 3:50, the first shoe dropped.

My mom aswered the phone, and pretty soon, she came running through the living room, out the porch door, and was talking to my dad, with the phone on speaker-phone.

She came back into the house, and told us that Nan's husband's dad had been in an accident, and that he was non-responsive. He had gone into the ditch, and it looked like he may have had a stroke, as he went in slow. They were taking him to Mason City hospital (they live in West Bend). My sister, Nan, had been the one to call, and she could not get ahold of her husband, Scott, on his cell phone (he was in Kentucky for work). They live in Milwaulkee.

We were barely finished digesting this news, when my grandpa called.

My grandma wasn't feeling well, and my grandpa wanted mom to come over and see if she needed to go to the hospital. She left to go see what was wrong. We waited to hear from Nan and Mom.

Around 4:30, my dad had to go tow a car from out on Highway 7.

At 4:40, my mom called to say that they were taking my grandma to the ER in Fort Dodge, as she had a high temperature. She had to come home to get her purse, so she had me plug in her curling irons, since she hadn't fixed her hair that morning. In fact, she and dad had been painting the front of the house earlier.

She had been home less than five minutes when the phone rang. I answered it, and it was my sister, Kim, and she was crying. My mom took the phone, and put it on speaker, and Kim told us that they had determined that Scott's dad was brain dead. They are waiting for all of the kids to get there.

Scott had already arrived in Milwaulkee. He had decided to take an earlier flight this morning, just because he wanted to get home earlier. That's why she couldn't get him on his cell. They were packing, and would call when they got on the road.

It was just too much for all of us, but my mom especially. She has been running ragged for weeks now, with my grandma being sick, and in and out of the hospital.

For the next hours, we waited. Dad, Mallory, my son, and I ate dinner. We cleaned up dinner. Our bags were mostly packed already, but we made sure we had everything ready to go.

At about 7:10, Nan called to say they were on their way.

At about 7:15, mom called to tell us that the doctors thought that grandma had a possible blot clot in her lung.

I decided that we needed to get on the road for home, because I have to work tomorrow, and we needed to get things done in order to go home later this week, if not sooner.

On the way out of town, we stopped in at the convenience store, and my aunt Rb was working. I filled her in on what was happening. She's been sick, and actually should probably have still been in bed herself (she's working two jobs, since the convenience store is so short of help in the evenings).

Finally, we were on the road.

We got to Webster City, and my phone rang. Mallory called to tell me that grandma has blood CLOTS, CLOTSSSSS, in her lungs. They are admitting her to the hospital.

My mom is going to stay to get her settled.

I am still trying to let all of this sink in. I can't believe we are losing Benji, and I can't believe that we may be losing my grandmother as well. As much as I want to just go to sleep and have this all be a bad dream, I can't.