Calling Hours in McArthur

Up near 6am. Exercise, coffee, internet, meditate, stretch and run.

Ronald's father, Guy, passed away, I believe Thursday evening, April 17th. Calling hours were 5-7pm in McArthur, Ohio. He died of a heart attack while watching TV with Ronald. He was 87 years old. I might have met him 20 years prior when Mom and Ronald married, but don't think I had an opportunity to talk with him since. Even still, Mindy and I made arrangements to attend. We reached out to dad to see if he wanted to join us as well. He did. Also left a VM for Tommy, but never did hear back.

When I arrived at work near 9am, I let my boss know that I needed to leave near 3pm in order to make the calling hours in McArthur. Mindy expected to leave school right after the students were dismissed. Dad planned to meet us at the house near 330pm. To help out, Jimaken agreed to make Monday his evening with the kids.

Sadly, my long time family doctor retired at the end of 2013. And in his farewell letter to all patients, he emphasized that we would be in good hands with Dr Coyle, a recent addition to the practice. I was a bit nervous about the idea of having a young female doctor, but willing to give it a go. Approximately 2-3 weeks prior I made an appointment to see Dr Coyle, and as per the usual, requested an early AM appointment so I could avoid fasting all morning long. The office agreed that a physical was best since Dr Coyle wasn't familiar with me and gave me an 8am appointment. Perfect! Or so I thought.

Mid-morning I phoned my doctor's office to inquire about the possibility of pushing out my appointment by only 10 minutes Tuesday morning so I wouldn't have to worry about finding someone to watch Bella. Instead of 8am, I asked if me arriving at 810am would be fine. You'd think I ask for $1000. They were adamant that I be there at 8am, and early if possible. No flexibility. Said the doctor has another appointment at 830am. Frustrated, I told them I would find a way to be there.

I left for a lunch run to Strader's near 1230pm, my first such visit this season. I always look forward to it, and typically plan to buy noting. Rather, just look at all the pretties. As I was exiting the office parking lot I got a call from my doctor's office. At first I thought perhaps they might've had a change of heart and would acquiesce to my 10 minute appointment delay request. Nope. This was an appointment confirmation call, and if you ask me sneaky. Sneaky because first, the young woman asked if I still planned to make my 8am Tuesday appointment. 'Sigh' - Yes, I do. Only after I confirmed my attendance did she proceed to tell me that the appointment was made in error and that the doctor isn't even in at 8am. LOL! O.K. ... The obvious question then was, great, then what time does she get in? 830am? I will be there then, and actually, that works better for me anyway. Well, no, because the doctor has other appointments at that time. OK. She hemmed and hawed, eventually telling me that she would check with the sdoctor and call me right back. OK. Onto to Strader's.

Strader's was gorgeous, fragrant and therapeutic. Certainly not all their annuals out but still plenty. Might've browsed for a solid 25-30 minutes before feeling satisfied. I headed back to the office, Oh, and no call back from the doctor's office.

As planned, I left work at 320pm after sharing that I wouldn't be able to make the standing Monday afternoon team call. Still no word from the doctor's office, I decided I would call them. The woman on the other end of the phone was pleasant but also a bit condescending. She matter of factly shared that the doctor would not be able to see me on Tuesday after all and that I would simply have to reschedule. And, if I wanted an early AM appointment it wouldn't be until July! Needless to say, I was incensed. Do you mean that you screwed up and now you want to move my appointment to July? Really? I asked to speak with the doctor, and then reminded them that Dr Broyles would never treat me, his patient, so poorly. She said she would relay my request for a call back to the doctor, but then offered a June 12th appointment but at 130pm, meaning I would have to fast well into the afternoon. She did concede that another more viable option would be to go separately to the lab and have blood work done before the appointment at my convenience. That made more since then fasting all day, but by then I was aggravated by their seeming lack of flexibility and patient care. I asked that she send me the info for the lab option but wasn't fully committed, though did keep the June 12th appointment she offered, just in case.

At home, I quickly logged into work. And while I was working, dad showed up. Shortly thereafter so did Mindy, and minutes later, Bella, Both kids were home from school before we left for McArthur. They'd be home for 30-60 minutes alone before Jimaken would get there to pick them up.

We had options relative to which route to take. Both I felt were subject to rush hour issues. In the end I chose to take route 33, my thinking being far fewer traffic lights than route 23. Mileage wise it's shorter too. As expected, we hit some traffic congestion as we merged onto 33 off of 270 but it didn't last too long. It was gorgeous, by the way, mid 70s and sunny. All of us were hungry. We planned to stop for dinner at some point. We never really discussed it, but I figured we would stop on our way back. Took about 90 minutes to make the 84 mile trip. Found the funeral home without any problems.

Lots of folks gathered outside smoking cigarettes and many in attire fitting for the area. We headed directly inside where we soon spotted my mom sitting in a chair next to Ronald. Once mom spotted us, she came to the entrance to greet us. She then introduced the three of us to some of Ronald's family, including his mother and several of his sisters, many of which I met some 15-20 years ago when she married Ronald. Been a while, for sure.

Mom took us up to see Guy. Looked good. He was dressed in denim overalls much like he might be wearing any other day. I'm told he wore them every day. He loved to wheel, deal, and trade, and often with tractors. It's little wonder then that there were a few matchbox-sized tractors in the casket.

We hung outside for a while, too. The cigarette smoke was a bit overwhelming, but that's what a lot folks down there do, I guess. I gave Ronald and mom hugs, once again expressing my condolences. We then left for home. We wound our way north on route 93 to route 33. Decided to stop at the Wendy's located near the route 33 entrance ramp. I'm pretty sure that the town is Logan. The Wendy's was a little down trodden but the food really good. In fact, it might've been the best baconator's that I've ever had.

Thinking it was near 7pm when we left Wendy's for home. Not too much conversation on the drive home. With a full stomach, I got really sleepy and had a case of the yawns that I couldn't shake. Got home near 8pm. Rather than come inside, Dad went straight to his minivan. He said he was tired too.