Entry 31: The Month of August
August for me was, in a word, long.
I kicked it off by finishing my Master’s Degree (that’s right - it’s DONE!!) and from there I dove into getting ready to move to VA for my first teaching job! I jumped in the car with my mom on August 11 (dad and the truck with all of my belongings would both follow the next day) and made the 7-hour drive from home to move into my new apartment.
Moving in wasn’t as smooth as we had hoped. From the start of the day, my mom wasn’t feeling 100%. At first, we thought it was food poisoning, but as the day went on, she just got worse and worse. By 4 that afternoon, we had to call an ambulance because she was too dizzy to sit up and couldn’t make it to the car to go to the hospital.
The next few hours felt like the longest of my life. I finally got a call from my dad, who had followed the ambulance to the hospital, around 10 that night. They had diagnosed my mom with a perforated colon. A few hours later, she emerged from an emergency surgery. She would stay in the hospital for the next 10 days.
The next morning, however, there was a ray of light. One of the other teachers at my grade level texted me offering to stop by and help me move in. Once I explained what was going on, she brought her 2 sons over to my apartment and the three of them spent over an hour unpacking and breaking down boxes. By the time they left, my entire kitchen and living room had been set up.
The fifth grade team rallied around me that week and has continued to support me as my mom transitioned out of the hospital, returned home, and - most recently - went back to work. Despite the fear and worry that accompanied my move, there have been innumerable blessings.
