01 – Stroke, Good Morning

This morning I woke up to the sound of the telephone. When you wake up to the sound of the phone it’s rarely good news. I answered the phone and it was my brother-in-law Kerry on the other line. He said that Albert, my husband, had a stroke and was on his way to the hospital. I didn’t understand when I first heard him say stroke I thought no that can’t be. Albert had had seizures, grand mall seizures in the past, but not a stroke. I told Kerry that it couldn’t be a stroke. He said, I don’t know what it is but he’s going to the hospital.

Kerry also said that I needed to come to Nashville asap.  Albert was in Nashville taking care of his mom, who had stage four lung cancer. I hung up the phone and didn’t quite know what to do so I got on my knees and prayed. I asked God to take care of the situation. I prayed that God would help me to be strong throughout the situation and to watch over Albert, my children and me. And then I cried. I cried that horrible cry, that ugly cry that’s loud and sorrowful, but only cried for a little while.  And then I got up.  

I wasn’t sure what to do because this was a totally new situation.  This was something that wasn’t planned. As I was getting my thoughts together, my first concern was getting to Nashville. Albert and I are like any other family. We live paycheck-to-paycheck. We’re thankful when we can get all of our bills paid in one month. I called my dad and I told him about Al’s stroke, and then I asked him if he could pay for my plane ticket.  It’s hard to ask him for money because I am self-sufficient, but in the situation I needed help. My dad gave me his credit card number and I bought the plane ticket. 

Some people would buy the plane ticket and head off to Nashville immediately, but I was in a situation where I couldn’t move too fast. I’m a principal at a private school and because I have a responsibility to the school, the students, teachers, and the community, I wanted to make sure I got my act together before I left town. I talked to the school president and told her my situation and let her know that I would be at school that day closing up loose ends. I didn’t tell anybody else about it, not even my secretary because I didn’t want to be judged harshly, but did my work thoroughly. I met with parents and teachers and made sure that students were on the right track. I worked later than I needed to work, but at the end of the day, I knew that I was ready to head to Nashville and wouldn’t have to worry about my job.