This has been in the back of my mind for a while now because Wayne’s grandparents are in their mid-80s and my parents are in their mid-70s. They all live in Denver, and while Wayne’s grandparents are relatively healthy, my parents have both been struggling with increasingly declining health.
So I’ve been trying to put some plans in place in case we get the worst call any person can ever get. Just yesterday I asked Wayne what we would do in such an emergency.
“You shouldn’t think like that. You attract what you think about, you know.”
“I know, but I keep having this feeling. And I’d rather know we have a plan than trying to throw one together under duress.”
Guess what happened today? His brother called saying his grandmother had a heart attack last night. She survived but is in intensive care. So now we’re on alert, just in case we need to head back.
Here’s what we decided on in case that happens:
Plan A: Drive back with all the pets in tow. They are welcome at my mom’s house, which is where we’d stay. That way we could stay as long as need be and be together. (At least me and the animals while I tend to affairs. Wayne would have to report back to work eventually.)
However, weather may prohibit this plan. Especially in winter. We have to drive through some potentially snowy corridors and that could be problematic. Also, Wayne travels a lot for work. He might not be able to swing his schedule to fly home right away to drive back with me. (It’s 17 hours minimum if we’re lucky, but usually closer to 18 or 19 with stops, traffic hiccups, construction, etc.)
Plan B: If we couldn’t drive for whatever reason, or if we didn’t need to be there longer than a week, we’d make plans to stay through the funeral and leave the pets home. We’d enlist our neighbor’s help who has watched the cats in the past, and Murph would go to a doggie hotel we’ve used before. If it turned out a longer stay was necessary, we’d fly home after the funeral and make arrangements to drive back out with animal crew in tow.
Plan C: If for whatever reason driving was not feasible at all, and we had to stay for an extended period, we’d use a stay-in-the-home pet sitter a co-worker of Wayne’s uses so all the pets could stay together in familiar surroundings.
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