Another Try: North To Oklahoma

Kayak Morning: 4/22/25

Morning Clouds And Sun: 4/22/25

It's 8:15, and Beth, her mother-in-law Chelo, and I are up, enjoying our coffee and getting ready for a long day. Rami went to the hospital yesterday morning and spent the night, so we pushed our trip to Kansas City back by a day. It's now 8:45, and Beth and Chelo have just left to see him, leaving us behind to get the house in order and feed the dogs before we head out around noon.

Yesterday began as usual. Beth and I were up early, around 6:00, had our coffee, and she was off to school by 7:00, leaving Rami and me to ourselves. We had some breakfast, fed the dogs, and let them out into the backyard. Evie was up by 8:15, and we were planning to leave around noon for Oklahoma.

Unfortunately, Rami wasn't feeling well. We kept checking his blood pressure, which was hovering in the low 80s/50s or high 70s/50s — worrisome numbers — and he seemed somewhat confused when he spoke. We texted Beth, and she decided to come home. After speaking with his doctor, who encouraged her to get Rami to the hospital, she called EMS. They arrived shortly in a massive ambulance, five or six men strong, all of them capable and reassuring. I kept the dogs in the bedroom while they attended to Rami. Beth followed in her car, and we decided to push our trip back a day — no big deal. We'll leave today around noon.

With the afternoon ahead of us, we got busy changing the beds, washing the sheets, and making sure the house was in good order for when Beth and Rami return. Chelo, Rami's mother, flew in from Florida and arrived by Uber around 2:30 to help out once we leave. The three of us settled in for the afternoon, catching up — we hadn't seen her in years. None of us were very hungry, so we made do with leftovers; Evie put together a ham omelet and a bagel for me. We sat around talking and watching the NBA game until around 8:00, when Chelo headed to bed, being an early riser.

Beth didn't get home from the hospital until about 8:45. We stayed up talking until 9:45 before finally calling it a night — the end of a very long day, especially for Beth.

“I would have won Vietnam very quickly. I would have, if I were president.” DJT