| Biographical Non-Fiction posted February 20, 2022 | Chapters: |
...148 149 -150- 151... 
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A family in crisis
A chapter in the book Remembering Yesterday
Agonizing Decisions
by BethShelby
For new readers, who may not have read my author notes, this is written in a conversational way as I talk to my deceased husband. When I refer to someone just as "you" this means I am addressing my husband, Evan.
When we realized it might take a while to get the Infiniti back, we knew we wouldn’t be going back to see about my parents right away. We felt we needed to talk to them about selling the property. I was afraid they were naïve about the value of land, and I didn’t want them to be taken advantage of.
You encouraged me to write Mom and tell her to hold off on selling, until we could come home. I wrote the letter and told Mom I’d been disappointed when they sold the other acreage without telling me. I let her know I didn’t want them to sell the land where I grew up. I didn’t feel the house would be easy to sell later, unless the acreage went with it.
I felt bad about writing the letter, because I was afraid the letter would put too much pressure on Mom. She would be caught between what Dad wanted to do and what I was asking her to do. They had already agreed to the sale, and it would mean backing away from the deal with the Arabian Ranch. I knew this letter would upset Mom, but you insisted I send it.
You told me since they needed help and they didn’t want to leave Newton; we could move there and build nearby if they didn’t sell the land.
I was right. The letter did upset my mother. I was embarrassed to talk to her, and had Carol call her instead. Mom was beside herself and was crying on the phone. I felt like a horrible daughter for putting undue stress on her when she was already sick. Eventually, I did write again and tried to make amends, by telling her we were willing to move there and take care of them.
I don’t think she believed we were serious about moving, but in the end, she sent the timber company a check for the $2,000 they wanted for counting the timber. That had to have upset Dad, because he was counting on the ranch paying the check. Mom made dinner and invited the ladies over to tell them the sale was off. I have no idea how much anger she might have endured from Dad.
You were excited about the idea of moving back to Mississippi to take care of my parents. You said we could build us a neat little house on the property and make the whole area into a showplace. I really didn’t want to move back in spite of the fact you telling me we could keep our property in Chattanooga and move back one day. I was willing to do it, because I knew Mom and Dad couldn’t hold out much longer, but I was afraid if we moved there, we would end up staying. All of our children were in Tennessee, except Don. We still didn’t know where he might set up a Chiropractic practice.
Charlie got a job in the lab at Memorial, but he and Connie were arguing a lot. At one point, an old girlfriend called him from Mississippi and told him she'd heard rumors he was engaged. Connie heard him vehemently deny it, and say he had no plans to get married. Charlie was very opinionated, and his mouth often got him into trouble. At a firework’s show we were attending, Charlie criticized the pyrotechnic experts who were setting off the fireworks and proclaimed them stupid. The wife of one of them sitting near us overheard and chewed him out. He was so embarrassed he had to leave the show.
Carol was hoping things might work out with Roy, and although they were seeing quite a bit of each other, Roy seemed reluctant to commit himself to a new relationship so soon after his divorce. He was only claiming to be a friend.
I was continuing to work temporary jobs. One of the agencies sent me on an assignment to Parkridge hospital to work in the lab department. It involved quite a bit of training and computer work. The girl who held that job would be out several weeks. I had to learn from her, because once she left, I would be on my own. They liked me right away and said they would be interested in hiring me permanently. Of course, even though I thought I’d like the work, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take a permanent job if we were moving to Mississippi.
On July 17, the first day I was handling the new job alone, my world came tumbling down around me. When I got home from work, you were on the phone with one of Mom’s neighbors. She said an ambulance passed her house, and since Mom and Dad lived just below her, she went down to see what had happened. My Dad had found Mom passed out on the floor of the bedroom and had called 911. They rushed her to the hospital. When we called the hospital, I was told they thought Mom had had a stroke. Later they called back and said she also appeared to be having a heart attack, and they were sending her to Meridian to the hospital.
I called the temp agency and told them I couldn’t return to the Parkridge job. They were furious with me, but I had no choice. We called the Infiniti body shop to see if our car could be driven. We were told our car was torn apart, and they’d found $800 more damage than they’d originally thought. We spent the next hour in the process of renting a car.
It was late before we finally got underway going to Mississippi. I cried most of the way there, afraid Mom would be dead before I got to the hospital. I was sure my added pressure was the reason for what was happening to her. You tried your best to comfort me. It was eleven-thirty that night when we arrived. Mom’s sister’s son, Keith was with her. She had been wild-eyed and flailing around speaking gibberish. He’d asked them to give her something to calm her down.
I wasn’t sure she'd recognized me, but she did become calmer and reached one arm toward me. The drugs they’d given her were taking over. I asked her to squeeze my hand, and I felt a slight pressure. The doctor asked to be notified as soon as I arrived. He spoke to me by phone and said he already talked to Dad by phone and Dad told him Mother wouldn’t want to be on any life-saving measures, so they were only keeping her hydrated. What he told me wasn’t encouraging.
You planned to spend the night with me at the hospital, but Dad was still in Newton with Keith’s wife. He’d had a bowel accident, and she didn’t know what to do. You had to go get him and take him home. I never found out if Dad was able to clean himself up or not. It was a bad situation for everyone involved.
At that point, I had a cot brought into the room, and planned to stay with Mom for however long it took. Things looked bleak, and we both knew we had no choice but to deal with whatever lay before us, one step at a time. I did a lot of praying, but I realized the help Mom needed from me had come too late.
This is Us:
Evan is 66 and a retired drafting supervisor from Chevron Oil.
Beth is 57 and has had a variety of jobs. She is presently working temporary jobs.
Carol is 32, recently divorced, and a nurse, working at a hospital in Chattanooga and living in an apartment.
Don is a twin. He is 31, a recent graduate of Life Chiropractic College
Christi is Don’s twin. She is working as a receptionist at a chemical company and doing massages on the side.
Kimberly s Don’s wife. She is a nurse working in Atlanta.
Lauren Elizabeth Jane Shelby is Don and Kimberly's new baby (8 mos.)
Connie is our youngest daughter. She is twenty-two. She and a junior in college.
Charlie is Connie's boyfriend who has recently moved to Chattanooga from South Mississippi.
Roy is a recently divorced young man who Carol is interested in.
Keith is my aunt's son.
Book of the Month contest entry
For new readers, who may not have read my author notes, this is written in a conversational way as I talk to my deceased husband. When I refer to someone just as "you" this means I am addressing my husband, Evan.
When we realized it might take a while to get the Infiniti back, we knew we wouldn’t be going back to see about my parents right away. We felt we needed to talk to them about selling the property. I was afraid they were naïve about the value of land, and I didn’t want them to be taken advantage of.
You encouraged me to write Mom and tell her to hold off on selling, until we could come home. I wrote the letter and told Mom I’d been disappointed when they sold the other acreage without telling me. I let her know I didn’t want them to sell the land where I grew up. I didn’t feel the house would be easy to sell later, unless the acreage went with it.
I felt bad about writing the letter, because I was afraid the letter would put too much pressure on Mom. She would be caught between what Dad wanted to do and what I was asking her to do. They had already agreed to the sale, and it would mean backing away from the deal with the Arabian Ranch. I knew this letter would upset Mom, but you insisted I send it.
You told me since they needed help and they didn’t want to leave Newton; we could move there and build nearby if they didn’t sell the land.
I was right. The letter did upset my mother. I was embarrassed to talk to her, and had Carol call her instead. Mom was beside herself and was crying on the phone. I felt like a horrible daughter for putting undue stress on her when she was already sick. Eventually, I did write again and tried to make amends, by telling her we were willing to move there and take care of them.
I don’t think she believed we were serious about moving, but in the end, she sent the timber company a check for the $2,000 they wanted for counting the timber. That had to have upset Dad, because he was counting on the ranch paying the check. Mom made dinner and invited the ladies over to tell them the sale was off. I have no idea how much anger she might have endured from Dad.
You were excited about the idea of moving back to Mississippi to take care of my parents. You said we could build us a neat little house on the property and make the whole area into a showplace. I really didn’t want to move back in spite of the fact you telling me we could keep our property in Chattanooga and move back one day. I was willing to do it, because I knew Mom and Dad couldn’t hold out much longer, but I was afraid if we moved there, we would end up staying. All of our children were in Tennessee, except Don. We still didn’t know where he might set up a Chiropractic practice.
Charlie got a job in the lab at Memorial, but he and Connie were arguing a lot. At one point, an old girlfriend called him from Mississippi and told him she'd heard rumors he was engaged. Connie heard him vehemently deny it, and say he had no plans to get married. Charlie was very opinionated, and his mouth often got him into trouble. At a firework’s show we were attending, Charlie criticized the pyrotechnic experts who were setting off the fireworks and proclaimed them stupid. The wife of one of them sitting near us overheard and chewed him out. He was so embarrassed he had to leave the show.
Carol was hoping things might work out with Roy, and although they were seeing quite a bit of each other, Roy seemed reluctant to commit himself to a new relationship so soon after his divorce. He was only claiming to be a friend.
I was continuing to work temporary jobs. One of the agencies sent me on an assignment to Parkridge hospital to work in the lab department. It involved quite a bit of training and computer work. The girl who held that job would be out several weeks. I had to learn from her, because once she left, I would be on my own. They liked me right away and said they would be interested in hiring me permanently. Of course, even though I thought I’d like the work, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take a permanent job if we were moving to Mississippi.
On July 17, the first day I was handling the new job alone, my world came tumbling down around me. When I got home from work, you were on the phone with one of Mom’s neighbors. She said an ambulance passed her house, and since Mom and Dad lived just below her, she went down to see what had happened. My Dad had found Mom passed out on the floor of the bedroom and had called 911. They rushed her to the hospital. When we called the hospital, I was told they thought Mom had had a stroke. Later they called back and said she also appeared to be having a heart attack, and they were sending her to Meridian to the hospital.
I called the temp agency and told them I couldn’t return to the Parkridge job. They were furious with me, but I had no choice. We called the Infiniti body shop to see if our car could be driven. We were told our car was torn apart, and they’d found $800 more damage than they’d originally thought. We spent the next hour in the process of renting a car.
It was late before we finally got underway going to Mississippi. I cried most of the way there, afraid Mom would be dead before I got to the hospital. I was sure my added pressure was the reason for what was happening to her. You tried your best to comfort me. It was eleven-thirty that night when we arrived. Mom’s sister’s son, Keith was with her. She had been wild-eyed and flailing around speaking gibberish. He’d asked them to give her something to calm her down.
I wasn’t sure she'd recognized me, but she did become calmer and reached one arm toward me. The drugs they’d given her were taking over. I asked her to squeeze my hand, and I felt a slight pressure. The doctor asked to be notified as soon as I arrived. He spoke to me by phone and said he already talked to Dad by phone and Dad told him Mother wouldn’t want to be on any life-saving measures, so they were only keeping her hydrated. What he told me wasn’t encouraging.
You planned to spend the night with me at the hospital, but Dad was still in Newton with Keith’s wife. He’d had a bowel accident, and she didn’t know what to do. You had to go get him and take him home. I never found out if Dad was able to clean himself up or not. It was a bad situation for everyone involved.
At that point, I had a cot brought into the room, and planned to stay with Mom for however long it took. Things looked bleak, and we both knew we had no choice but to deal with whatever lay before us, one step at a time. I did a lot of praying, but I realized the help Mom needed from me had come too late.
This is Us:
Evan is 66 and a retired drafting supervisor from Chevron Oil.
Beth is 57 and has had a variety of jobs. She is presently working temporary jobs.
Carol is 32, recently divorced, and a nurse, working at a hospital in Chattanooga and living in an apartment.
Don is a twin. He is 31, a recent graduate of Life Chiropractic College
Christi is Don’s twin. She is working as a receptionist at a chemical company and doing massages on the side.
Kimberly s Don’s wife. She is a nurse working in Atlanta.
Lauren Elizabeth Jane Shelby is Don and Kimberly's new baby (8 mos.)
Connie is our youngest daughter. She is twenty-two. She and a junior in college.
Charlie is Connie's boyfriend who has recently moved to Chattanooga from South Mississippi.
Roy is a recently divorced young man who Carol is interested in.
Keith is my aunt's son.
When we realized it might take a while to get the Infiniti back, we knew we wouldn’t be going back to see about my parents right away. We felt we needed to talk to them about selling the property. I was afraid they were naïve about the value of land, and I didn’t want them to be taken advantage of.
You encouraged me to write Mom and tell her to hold off on selling, until we could come home. I wrote the letter and told Mom I’d been disappointed when they sold the other acreage without telling me. I let her know I didn’t want them to sell the land where I grew up. I didn’t feel the house would be easy to sell later, unless the acreage went with it.
I felt bad about writing the letter, because I was afraid the letter would put too much pressure on Mom. She would be caught between what Dad wanted to do and what I was asking her to do. They had already agreed to the sale, and it would mean backing away from the deal with the Arabian Ranch. I knew this letter would upset Mom, but you insisted I send it.
You told me since they needed help and they didn’t want to leave Newton; we could move there and build nearby if they didn’t sell the land.
I was right. The letter did upset my mother. I was embarrassed to talk to her, and had Carol call her instead. Mom was beside herself and was crying on the phone. I felt like a horrible daughter for putting undue stress on her when she was already sick. Eventually, I did write again and tried to make amends, by telling her we were willing to move there and take care of them.
I don’t think she believed we were serious about moving, but in the end, she sent the timber company a check for the $2,000 they wanted for counting the timber. That had to have upset Dad, because he was counting on the ranch paying the check. Mom made dinner and invited the ladies over to tell them the sale was off. I have no idea how much anger she might have endured from Dad.
You were excited about the idea of moving back to Mississippi to take care of my parents. You said we could build us a neat little house on the property and make the whole area into a showplace. I really didn’t want to move back in spite of the fact you telling me we could keep our property in Chattanooga and move back one day. I was willing to do it, because I knew Mom and Dad couldn’t hold out much longer, but I was afraid if we moved there, we would end up staying. All of our children were in Tennessee, except Don. We still didn’t know where he might set up a Chiropractic practice.
Charlie got a job in the lab at Memorial, but he and Connie were arguing a lot. At one point, an old girlfriend called him from Mississippi and told him she'd heard rumors he was engaged. Connie heard him vehemently deny it, and say he had no plans to get married. Charlie was very opinionated, and his mouth often got him into trouble. At a firework’s show we were attending, Charlie criticized the pyrotechnic experts who were setting off the fireworks and proclaimed them stupid. The wife of one of them sitting near us overheard and chewed him out. He was so embarrassed he had to leave the show.
Carol was hoping things might work out with Roy, and although they were seeing quite a bit of each other, Roy seemed reluctant to commit himself to a new relationship so soon after his divorce. He was only claiming to be a friend.
I was continuing to work temporary jobs. One of the agencies sent me on an assignment to Parkridge hospital to work in the lab department. It involved quite a bit of training and computer work. The girl who held that job would be out several weeks. I had to learn from her, because once she left, I would be on my own. They liked me right away and said they would be interested in hiring me permanently. Of course, even though I thought I’d like the work, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take a permanent job if we were moving to Mississippi.
On July 17, the first day I was handling the new job alone, my world came tumbling down around me. When I got home from work, you were on the phone with one of Mom’s neighbors. She said an ambulance passed her house, and since Mom and Dad lived just below her, she went down to see what had happened. My Dad had found Mom passed out on the floor of the bedroom and had called 911. They rushed her to the hospital. When we called the hospital, I was told they thought Mom had had a stroke. Later they called back and said she also appeared to be having a heart attack, and they were sending her to Meridian to the hospital.
I called the temp agency and told them I couldn’t return to the Parkridge job. They were furious with me, but I had no choice. We called the Infiniti body shop to see if our car could be driven. We were told our car was torn apart, and they’d found $800 more damage than they’d originally thought. We spent the next hour in the process of renting a car.
It was late before we finally got underway going to Mississippi. I cried most of the way there, afraid Mom would be dead before I got to the hospital. I was sure my added pressure was the reason for what was happening to her. You tried your best to comfort me. It was eleven-thirty that night when we arrived. Mom’s sister’s son, Keith was with her. She had been wild-eyed and flailing around speaking gibberish. He’d asked them to give her something to calm her down.
I wasn’t sure she'd recognized me, but she did become calmer and reached one arm toward me. The drugs they’d given her were taking over. I asked her to squeeze my hand, and I felt a slight pressure. The doctor asked to be notified as soon as I arrived. He spoke to me by phone and said he already talked to Dad by phone and Dad told him Mother wouldn’t want to be on any life-saving measures, so they were only keeping her hydrated. What he told me wasn’t encouraging.
You planned to spend the night with me at the hospital, but Dad was still in Newton with Keith’s wife. He’d had a bowel accident, and she didn’t know what to do. You had to go get him and take him home. I never found out if Dad was able to clean himself up or not. It was a bad situation for everyone involved.
At that point, I had a cot brought into the room, and planned to stay with Mom for however long it took. Things looked bleak, and we both knew we had no choice but to deal with whatever lay before us, one step at a time. I did a lot of praying, but I realized the help Mom needed from me had come too late.
This is Us:
Evan is 66 and a retired drafting supervisor from Chevron Oil.
Beth is 57 and has had a variety of jobs. She is presently working temporary jobs.
Carol is 32, recently divorced, and a nurse, working at a hospital in Chattanooga and living in an apartment.
Don is a twin. He is 31, a recent graduate of Life Chiropractic College
Christi is Don’s twin. She is working as a receptionist at a chemical company and doing massages on the side.
Kimberly s Don’s wife. She is a nurse working in Atlanta.
Lauren Elizabeth Jane Shelby is Don and Kimberly's new baby (8 mos.)
Connie is our youngest daughter. She is twenty-two. She and a junior in college.
Charlie is Connie's boyfriend who has recently moved to Chattanooga from South Mississippi.
Roy is a recently divorced young man who Carol is interested in.
Keith is my aunt's son.
 Recognized |
I'm continuing to recall memories of life with my deceased husband, Evan, as if I am talking aloud to him. I'm doing this because I want my children to know us as we knew each other and not just as their parents.
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