After the Road Trip I set my eyes on the next two goals, rest and Easter. Both needed some serious attention, but that all changed when I got a call from Laura on a Wednesday morning. She was in tears when she told me her Dad was on the way to the hospital and having a heart attack. Shock, fear, uncertainty were all settling in. I went into the office and tried to go to my first meeting. Before the meeting was over two of our Elders from the church had already called to pray with me. I wasn't sure what to do being hundreds of miles away, but Keith Comp simple said, "you go." He and Tammy Kalstad assured me it was the right thing to do and with that I told Laura to start packing when she got home.
The next day we drove east to a small town just outside of Washington D.C.. Two surgery's later, Mike (Laura's father) was back home. In fact, he was back at work on Monday. Laura and I made the long trip back on Sunday and crashed after the 1500 mile weekend.
Some people might say, he was fine, you didn't need to go, it all worked out. But they'd be wrong. That's exactly why you go. You go because it's family. You go because you want to cherish the fact that it did work out. You go because you need each other. Sure it was a long drive, but I'd do it again tomorrow. I got a chance to let my in-laws know that no matter how far away we might be, Laura and I will be there for them. I got a chance to hold my nephew and see my sister-in-law. Most of all, it was a opportunity for me to love Laura.
Who knows what the future holds. I'm sure there will be times when we won't be able to jump in a car and go. There will be times when we're stuck or can't travel or are too late, but this time we were able.
I'm glad to report that Mike is doing much better. In fact, he's in better shape now than he was before his little incident. We all learned some things in the process. Good diets aren't guarantees in life (so bring on the burgers), 911 is a cool number, use it, Mary could be an ambulance driver, and I love my family very, very much.
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