I Still Worry

I still worry even though he is 28.

Colorado Springs got a lot of snow this week. We had a severe winter storm move in on Sunday, and it didn’t stop snowing until sometime on Tuesday. Fourteen inches of snow fell in my neighborhood. Some areas got more some less.

My son, Chris, who is now 28, just recently started working for a mobile medical company in town. He is a licensed EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). He is transporting non-emergency patients to and from appointments, etc. In a few months after his probation is complete, he hopes to begin working in an ambulance with the other EMT’s.

With this new job, Chris is making up for the five years between 21 and 26 when he couldn’t drive because of uncontrolled seizures due to epilepsy. Now he drives EVERYWHERE! And that is a good thing.

This is what I don’t like…

First, regardless of the weather, if there is a patient that needs to be driven, he drives. Second, the hours seem to be brutally long.

This past Saturday he worked his normal 12-hour shift…longer actually, because he got to work by 7:00 a.m. and didn’t get back to my place until 10:20 p.m. He opted to spend the night here in town because he was “on-call” that night after his shift. When he arrived, he told me he would be driving to Durango, Colorado the next day to transport a patient. Durango is a 6-hour drive from here. It began snowing, and local meteorologists were saying it wasn’t going to stop until sometime Tuesday. Ask me if I slept at all Saturday night. I am sure you know the answer.

I got up the next morning to make his lunch; something I’ve never done for his sister or my husband. He is my son! He told me he was wrong. He wasn’t going to Durango; it was Coaldale. It is a little town only 2 hours southwest of us. “That’s better than Durango in this whether,” I thought.

I worried all day!

No I wouldn’t say worried, let’s say I AGONIZED all day. “Are the roads okay? Is he safe? Why do they have to release people from the hospital on Sunday?” I fretted. “They shouldn’t send people out in this kind of weather if it isn’t an emergency,” I contemplated.

My husband said I am worrywart. I know he is 28 years old. He is a man. But, I am his mother and mothers always worry about their children no matter their age.

The kid arrived home safely around 5:00 p.m. That night I slept like a baby!

Chris stayed here for all of Monday and Tuesday. The snow just kept coming. It didn’t look like it would ever stop! City offices closed early on Monday and didn’t re-open until Wednesday. All school districts in the area shut down until Thursday even though it stopped snowing on Tuesday. Some of the doorways on some of the school buildings were buried by the drifting snow. Snow removal has been a major hassle for the past few days. I was relieved Chris didn’t have to work those days.

But, he did on Wednesday. He arrived at work by 7:00 a.m. I didn’t see him again until he arrived home at 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning. It seems at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, after already working 10 hours, Chris and another person were dispatched on another long distance run.

I’ve never taught my children they are entitled to anything. I’ve always taught them they have to work and earn anything they get, but GEEEEES! That’s crazy! My son’s father phoned me at 9:30 to let me know Chris would be spending the night here again, because he was too tired to make the 23 mile drive to his dad’s home where he lives. At 11:00 p.m., I texted my son to find out when he was getting home. That was when I learned where he was and I calculated…he wouldn’t be home until 1:30 a.m.!

At 1:30 a.m., he arrived wanting food. So, I heated up some leftovers from our dinner, sat, and watched him eat.

He had to be at work by 7:00 a.m. the next morning. I again got up and made his lunch. I was fortunate in that I was able to go back to bed when he left.

Like I said, brutally long hours…but he seems cheerful and that is really ALL that matters.

So, on to my card.

I just LOVE this stamp set and these framelits! A very dear friend of mine gave me a birthday card that is similar to this one. The black and white colors, thread and embossed background and sentiment are different on the one I’ve made.