12 January


GRATITUDES:
1. No traffic on the highway this morning
2. My still-affectionate 17-year-old daughter
3. A husband who can ALWAYS make me laugh
4. My kid’s passion for what they feel is right

Another Thursday, another day in the transplant clinic’s waiting room. I drove myself into San Antonio this morning without accompaniment, a first for me since before I was hospitalized in late September of last year. I was lucky to have an appointment later in the morning because there’s a window of time in which the highway can be nearly impassible. That’s at the best of times. If there’s an accident, or if someone brakes for hallucinations, all bets are off and you can expect to be stuck in traffic for ages. Anyway, I’m feeling a bit better about the state of my health although the results of the upcoming CT scan and the ongoing issue with my elevated blood pressure are still weighing a bit heavily on my mind. Still, those are things that I have little control over. Just let it go, Robin.

I received some good news the other day. A very old friend of mine, whom I haven’t seen in over 30 years, will be in San Antonio on business next week and we’re arranging to meet up for lunch or coffees or exploring the River Walk. Maybe all three! Neil hasn’t been to San Antonio; in fact, I don’t believe he’s ever been to this part of Texas. His home stomping grounds are the UK and we met and became friends while Rory and I were stationed over there. This is going to be a bit weird. The last time I saw him was when he stopped in California on his way back home from Australia. That was in October of 1989. A LOT has happened since then. I certainly hope that my natural social anxiety doesn’t get the better of me!

Ugh. Another lockdown at the high school. I went to pick up Lauren this afternoon and saw a police car blocking one of the driveways on the side of the school. The parking lot hadn’t been cordoned off yet so I was able to slip in and find a place to park. I didn’t know about the lockdown until I was close enough to the school buildings to hear the loudspeaker blaring the alarm. Thankfully it was a false alarm and the lockdown was lifted after about half an hour but it took a bit longer for the students to be released from the building.