Blessing #7- My Daddy

        A year ago last night Dad was at a meeting, and Jacob was hanging out with his buddies at Quaker Steak N' Lube. Mom had put the little kids to bed and her and I had crashed in the TV room to watch Monk. At about 9:45 or so, the phone rang. It was Dad. He was on his way home from his meeting, and he said that he was having some mild chest pain and thought maybe he should go to the ER. Long story short, my parents decided that Dad would start towards Robinson hospital while Mom called her sister, who is a nurse. After talking to my Aunt Mindy, Mom picked up the phone to call Dad back and tell him she would meet him at the hospital.
        I've never been as scared in my life as when I saw the look of panic on Mom's face when the phone kept ringing and Daddy didn't pick up. After phoning once more and getting no answer, I was almost hysterical. For all we knew, Dad's chest pain had turned into a major heart attack and he had careened off the road and crashed into a tree. I knew Mom was just as scared as I was, but she calmly decided that she would get in the car and start driving towards the hospital (Dad took the same route to the hospital as Mom was going to). She instructed me to go downstairs and bring her my cell phone, as hers was dead. I remember running down the stairs, almost yelling prayers to God to spare my daddy's life. I was trying to remember what the last thing I'd said to him was. I searched my room frantically but I couldn't find my phone. Tears streamed down my face as I searched through coat pockets until I finally found it. I ran upstairs and gave it to Mom. She hugged me and reminded me that God was in control. She left the house with instructions to continue to call Dad.
        The phone rang 4 agonizing times before Dad picked up. I'd never been so happy to hear his voice as I was at that moment. He wasn't dead on the side of the road, he simply hadn't had reception, so he didn't receive our calls. He'd made it to the hospital safe and sound.

         We found out on Wednesday that Dad had had a mild heart attack. The doctor said it was really just a fluke, that Dad's heart was one of the healthiest he'd seen. A cumulation of stress and caffeine had caused one of his small arteries to constrict. The doctors put a stint in and Dad came home on Thanksgiving! I'm so very thankful that he's here this Thanksgiving Eve :D