When Plans Come Together

For the most part, the plans of last week moved from theory to reality. We had to make a couple of minor adjustments, buts what life without some minor adjustments? In our life, minor adjustments are easy and frankly expected.

We went to the lake with our caregivers in tow and met daughter Erin and parents Larry and Bettye Lou at our house. On Friday Daddy Larry and I had the pleasure of catching a number of fish while in the company of an illustrious Richland Chambers guide, Cory Vinson, with nofishnocharge.com`. We caught a mess of sand bass, some big hybrid bass and a couple of catfish just to top off the morning. It was a fine morning followed by a big rain in the afternoon. This was a classically good Texas day.

Brother John's schedule and daughter Erin's migraine were the only hitches in this particular plan; they missed a regular fishapoolza; so sorry to you both. Marty was in good hands at our house in the company of Renae and my Mom, so Dad and I enjoyed a wonderful morning on the lake slaying dangerous fish.

The next plan was for pictures with our family and our extended family of caregivers. Our grandson, Noah, showed up right on time. He came in dragging along his parents and Lyle, Erin's boy. We rested Friday evening so we would all look chipper for the photography session. I'm not sure I could get enough sleep to bring beauty but I tried and to quote my mother, "you just aren't ever going to look better than you do right now." Once again Mama speaks truth.

I've been working with Marty on her picture smile. She actually kind of gets into it after a while and starts showing her pearly whites with a smile that's somewhere between laughter and a grimace. It's when her eyes smile, when her eye brows lift, when the corners of her mouth turn up just a bit at the corners that you really get to see Marty, that you get to see the Marty I know. I hope some of the pictures found her.

Lyle's sister and brother-in-law found the lake and, while very hot and sweaty for some of us, the picture taking was quick and painless. Unfortunately, we were sans Nikkie, who was felled by a migraine (a veritable migraine epidemic this weekend), but Renae and Erica were there and Renae almost smiled for one of the pictures. Marty's best smiles came when we started talking about breaking wind; she loves fart humor, but who doesn't?

Marty, as expected was a rock. She was a tired rock, but a solid, cooperating, agreeable rock. As it turns out she was, is a bit sick. Our last sputum sample indicated a pretty substantial upper respiratory strep infection. We knew she had an elevated white count (infection) and she had already started what we hope is the appropriate antibiotic before we got the strep diagnosis. So my rock, in addition to being a sold, cooperating, agreeable rock was a sick rock.

All in all our plans moved smoothly from the theory stage, to hypothesis, to reality. We got to do some things we enjoyed with people we enjoy, very cool. We had to adjust, we had to handle a couple of minor catastrophes, and Marty, as she so often does, pushed through her fog, pushed through her illness to enjoy some simple acts of living. If you watch her, if you understand what she does in spite of, you will learn; through her living, she really does have this amazing effect on you. At least she does on me.