What Can Happen in 24 Hours

You might think to yourself, "How much can really happen in one 24-hour period?"

A whole bloody lot...

On 12.21.06 I wrote to my friend Daniela in the Czech Republic:

"Well, there is just no happiness tonight. Apparently, Luis' grandfather is dying and I am going to Florida - I don't want to go but Luis is insisting we go. As in us, not him. I'm amazed and not a little disappointed. I don't mean to sound like such a self-cnetered wretch, but he is not close to his grandfather and I am a hell of a lot less close. This means missing Christmas with my family to go sit in a hospital - a trip surrounded by sitting in an airport to go there and back. How is this supposed to sound appealing? I know, I know, I should do this for Luis and with good grace. But flying down to Florida to see somoeone die and then having to fly back either Christmas Eve or Christmas day is insane. And we are both expecting to be at work on Tuesday. That is going to be ugly...

So there it is. I'm hoping for a miracle, like Anna calling at midnight and saying it is a false alarm and we don't need to go anywhere. And my mother's reaction? Oh, if you fly in Christmas Day you can come straight here from the airport. What are the odds? We can't get a flight down until Saturday night and there is no way we will come back before Sunday night, better yet Monday. After spending all that time flying and at a hospital, what are the odds we will have any energy to go anywhere.

I'm so not happy about this. Timing is everything and this is certainly terrible timing."

On 12.22.06 I wrote:

"Good morning, Daniela!

It is 0830.

The gods have smiled upon us and we are not going to Florida until (I think) January! It is both good and bad news, although it sounds to me as though Luis' grandfather was definitely suffering and not in good shape, so the bad news is better than one might think. He died last night, from internal bleeding, I'm told. Not a nice thing, but better than being in pain for a long period of time. I doubt there will be any funeral until after the holidays are over, both Christmas and New Years. I can't help but feel sad for Luis (although he doesn't seem too upset, as usual, but who can tell what is really going on in his mind?) but I am very happy not to be travelling and to be having Christmas with my family.

Luis actually managed to get ALL of his money - airfare, hotel and rental vehicle - returned to him, which really is nothing short of a miracle! The airfare won't be refunded as much as moved as we will go down for the funeral at some point within the next two weeks, but the hotel and car we would normally end up not being able to get refunded. I guess no one wanted to be a totally heartless person to a man who has just lost his grandfather a couple of days before Christmas and not refund the money! I have heard that most of the time airlines will take pity on someone who has just had a sudden death in the family but usually hotels and especially rentals won't.

I called Ray last night at around 0030 (I knew - and I couldn't tell you how I knew but I did) that he was still up; he is no more one to be up at midnight than I am, but he wasn't sleeping for some reason. He was surprised to hear from me. I told him that Christmas was back on, now that nearly everyone has rearranged their plans... It is kind of funny, even though it isn't. I have to e-mail my family that we are actually going to be here after all. I could also tell Joe that he is positively off the hook for doing payroll on Tuesday. He may get stuck with it in early January... we shall see. In Jnauary, I imagine there will suddenly be a big rush to bury the body as it will have been sitting in the coroner's office since 22 December... so we will likely have to fly down on Tuesday or maybe even Monday to do this. As long as we fly back within the week, I suppose that is fine. Joe hates having to run payroll but quite frankly, he should not have so much as a single complaint as running it in January is really, really easy!

Now it is 1302, and things have changed again... There is a memorial on Tuesday night and the funeral is Wednesday, so I will be missing work on Tuesday and Wednesday (I already planned Thursday and Friday as personal days). We can't seem to find a flight back, amusingly enough... I am so not staying over in Florida through the rest of December! (At first he could only flights returning 1 January and then 31 December - I don't feel good about driving home on 31 December at night. Too many drinking and driving people that night.

It is now 1721 and I think we are mostly set up for flying down Monday at 1625 (we will have to leave my parents' house at 1400 to get to the airport in a timely fashion) and then returning Thursday, 28 December at 1140 - well, our departure time is 1140, getting in around 1500, I guess. I will have Friday and the weekend and Monday off, and then it is a new year and no issues or dying people (I HOPE) for a long, long time."

This is where things stand right now. It is not a good situation anyway you slice it but it is a much better one than it began... I guess we will just make the most of it and get through the holidays and the funeral and then be home for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and then - life returns to normal insanity. I can live with that.

Not that what has gone on has been the end of the world - I realise this is hardly that. But I am not interested in spending Christmas away from my family - they may be nuts and I only really see them once a year, but they are my nutty family and that is OK. Going down to Florida to perform a death-watch is not my idea of a great holiday.

I don't doubt that the trip will be interesting and I will enjoy what is meant to be enjoyed, such as flying first class (never done that before! It sounds wonderful!), staying in a suite with a jacuzzi and being somewhere that is 23 degrees Celsius in late December... that all sounds really good, doesn't it? But now I can be happy that I get to have Christmas Eve with my insane family... I get to have Christmas Day (until around 1400) with my parents, and then we will have the first class flight, the drive (it is about two hours from Orlando or Tampa, whichever airport we end up landing), the funeral, the family, and then the trip back. I plan to get postcards. I was hoping to see the Gulf of Mexico but now it seems our chances of getting the flight out is for 28 December only and out of Orlando, which is not near any ocean. Good thing is, I should see an ocean or a gulf flying in and flying out... I'm hoping for one each way. I love to fly, and both flights are for the day time, so I should be able to take pictures from the window (I always take a window seat). I'll have music, books and a very comfortable seat traveling this time...

So. The next time you find yourself wondering how much can happen in 24 hours... stop yourself and reassure yourself that a lot more than you want can happen and move on.