A Strangely Stephen King Week

I've had the strangest last several days. Last Monday, a dear friend of mine who just moved here from Houston met us at the park along with a brand new friend of hers for a play date. Between the three of us we had seven boys, seven and under running around. And then, because we just weren't hot or crazy enough, we decided to all go have lunch together. They'd never been to one of my local faves, Hammontree's, and so it was that we were off to eat, all TEN of us.

It was hot, in the 90s here that day, which we'd thought would only reach 87 degrees as predicted in the forecast. We ate outside under the shade because the inside tables were full, and when it was time to check out, I lead the way because they'd never been there and you pay as you leave.

I got in line inching forward as my two littles were circling my knees when the tall young woman in front of me timbered forward and landed flat on her face on the concrete floor. She'd fainted. When I realized she was falling forward, I reached out to try to catch her, but I was too late. I spoke up and asked who was with her and did she have seizures? Her friend said that she didn't have seizures but that she'd complained of not feeling well earlier during lunch.

A few of us tried to hoist her up, but her knees buckled again and once again, she collapsed. We stretched her out on the concrete floor with someone putting a stack of napkins under her head as I pulled her hiked dress down. She had a gash on her chin and tissue was bulging out of it. It was a nasty cut from a nasty fall. My friend, Erin, is a nurse and with a baby on her hip, raced back to the kitchen and quickly came back with cool rags to place on her chest and forehead.

The girl came to, but was quivering. 911 had been called and the fire department showed up first. She'd dropped her coin purse and the ten dollar bill she was going to pay with. I wedged her purse free from her shoulder on the floor and put them both in for her. As I did that, she reached out and asked me to get her phone for someone to call her parents. Her friend told her an ambulance was on the way. She said that wasn't necessary. Erin told her that she still needed to go to the hospital because that gash on her chin needed stitches.

All seven kids watched nearby. A dark, thick drop of blood began to slowly fall down her chin. When we knew she was stable and conscious, and that the ambulance had just pulled up, we left.

In the car, Erin and I did a lot of explaining to the boys that she'd be okay and that sometimes people faint, which of course, we turned into a lesson of how important it is to drink lots of water and eat well.

So fast forward a few days. We'd showed our house that morning, and once again in the 90s on that day, I had two sweaty boys in the backseat. We were headed home from a picnic lunch at the park. I got a call from my Realtor saying the lookers were an hour late and could I postpone coming home. I knew I needed a few things from the grocery store, so I turned around and headed back toward where we'd just come from.

Walking through the parking lot we saw another fire truck, which the boys pointed at, squealing in delight that they'd spotted yet another one this week. About to walk through the front door, an ambulance pulled up. Inside, at one of the first checkout lines, several firemen/women were surrounding a young man, checking his head, tracing his spine with their fingers, twisting his neck to the right and left and checking his blood oxygen level.

He'd had a seizure. He was fine, too.

I'm not a very superstitious person, but they say things happen in three's. After I got home, had unloaded the groceries and put my 3yo down for a nap, I got a text from a friend that a guy from my hometown who played bass in a band I'm a fan of, had taken a grim turn for the worse, having hospice called in due to complications from brain cancer. He was around my age. I'd known he was sick, but still, it got me down ... especially for his wife and family.

I think about the girl from the restaurant. In fact, I've thought about her all week. Driving home, I thought about the guy at the grocery store and wondered if he'd had ever had a seizure before or if he's epileptic, maybe. And now, with Luke Hunsicker passing early yesterday morning, I think about Luke's widow, and wonder what it must feel like to have to find something to wear for your husbands funeral when you're 29 years old.

*Click the name Luke Hunsicker to read more about this incredible guy.