From Philadelphia to Mexico

I got home Monday night at 11:45. On Tuesday morning at 6:00, mom and I left for Mexico to get Dad. If you recall, he had surgery for a hernia while in mexico. He is still SO sore so he couldn't drive out of Mexico... he can't even push the gas or break pedals b/c it sends shooting pains all through his body. Another missionary family that was down there offered to caravan with him out of the village and to the border. The husband drove dad's truck with all the furniture while dad rested. He said the bumpy road leaving the village was a killer. i can only imagine...oh man. So mom and I drove across the border to a small hotel where dad stayed the night. The other missionary family had to be somewhere else and the border closed on monday before dad could cross. Mom and I drove across the border to pick him up--so mom could drive his truck back for him while he rested. He told us to meet him in a brightly colored hotel on the other side of Augua Prieta (the border town). The hotel was SO bright. Definitely a mexican hotel. We drove in and didn't know what room dad was in but eventually saw him standing at a window waving. He hobbled out of his room to meet us, his pants held up only by a loosely clasped belt (he can't zip up his pants or button them because it pulls on the stitches and hurts really bad). He was quite the sight. Pictures don't do the story justice because all the funny stuff was in his movements and actions... and words ("today is a milestone, anne! I pooped!"...mom's reply was: "I knew it would be something stupid like that." I just laughed. hard.).

We all made it safely across the border. When i was leaving (i was driving the van), the border patrol wanted to know what my business in Mexico was. Don't worry, I didn't give them the whole story...If they only knew. Dad told mom the entire story of his surgery IN DETAIL on the way back. After we stopped in Sierra Vista for lunch, dad wanted to ride with me so he could tell ME the whole story. He thinks of it as a war survival story, I think. Crazy guy. He had it done in the village. First he had a spinal tap (gross) that paralyzed his entire bottom half. Everything was conducted in Spanish. Dad said the doctor was very compassionate (or else, as Jay said, he just knew that the gringo's are wimpy and can't handle pain).

He wobbles and hobbles around the house calling "Anne" and awful lot. Haha. Just a little bit ago he was sitting in the chair next to me trying to get his pants and socks on. He finally had to have me help with the socks. The funniest thing is that he CAN'T laugh. It hurts him really bad. So he gets really mad when anyone says anything funny. He YELLS "Stop talking before I laugh!" Apparently last night he tried to convince my mom to let him have a pee can by his bed so he didn't have to walk to the bathroom. She said no way... "Once you let an old man start peeing in a cup, everything starts going down hill." Haha. She handles him very well. I know he is in a lot of pain...sometimes its really sad b/c I can see it in his face, and he can't breathe very well. He takes morphine only sometimes... and always acts like it is really screwing with his mind, exclaiming "I see the white knights riding backwards and the red queen doesn't have a head!" He is SO weird.

He has a bandage over the spot so we can't see the damage... eventually, I suppose. I got a picture of the bandage :)

I love dad. He's amazing. I can't believe he just had surgery in the village to avoid the hassle of American hospitals. So cool. haha. Anyway... he can't lift anything over 20 lbs for 2 months. That'll be hard for him. He's already trying to break the rules and mom yells at him. He could potentially undo everything that was fixed and stitched back up. hopefully not.

Tonight we're getting our tree! So exciting!