Do you ever decide your going to keep a journal and then you do it for awhile, and then fall off the wagon? Personally, I’m really good at falling of the wagon, on numerous endeavors too, but that's a whole other blog ha. I started going through a bunch of my stuff in my room last week while Easton was at Bible school and found a journal that I'd kept while Mom was first sick with Alzheimers. She could still talk some, but physically she would need help getting in and out of the car. During that time, Mom, Marcy and I, had what was for me, the funniest trip to Walmart I ever had.
It stared like this; I drove us up to the garden center door of Walmart in Minot, North Dakota, to run in and get a quick item. Marcy and I both went in to choose the item, and left Mom in the car. It was mid Sept, so not hot or cold out, and back then any crime was unheard of. Mom stayed in the backseat while we hurried and got what we needed and Marcy decided to go to the front of the store to use the bathroom, and I took what we bought to the car. After sitting in the car for a minute, chatting to Mom, I spotted my pictures I was meant to copy on the dash. The picture machine was at the front of the store, right by the bathrooms. I said to Mom, we’ll just pull up to that door in the front row and Marcy can come out and sit with you when she's done in the bathroom and I’ll copy the pictures on the machine. So we pulled up to the first row, and I went in the store ( I could see Mom from the machine if I looked out). I started copying pictures and soon after Marcy came out of the bathroom. I ask her if she had the coupon we'd clipped for these prints and she said, “No it’s in the car”, and then offered to go get it and check on Mom at the same time. I kept printing away because now I had an impatient customer behind me and I had a lot of them to print. Seemed like Marcy was gone forever, I remember thinking more than once. All of a sudden from behind me I heard Marcy nearly yell my name! I turned around to see her standing in the doorway, on the Walmart door mat, with a frantic upset look on her face! She exclaimed in a loud voice, “ Either I’ve lost my mind or the car is gone”! She threw her arms out wide in exasperation! Laughing immediately, I walked away from my pictures on the machine (The person behind me nearly had smoke coming out her ears now) and to Marcy! Cackling like a hyena, I gave my puzzled, annoyed sister her a hug! Instantly, I knew I HAD FORGOTTEN TO TELL HER I MOVED THE CAR TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUILDING! Between the cackling I spit out that I'd moved the car! She had been searching up and down rows of cars back by the garden center, with visions of carjackers, kidnappers, or Mom driving off and going who knows where! At first Marcy isn't joining in on this funny, funny episode! I was still laughing like a lunatic, and she was still acting like she been hit with a stun gun! No smile, no it's ok, nothing.
After explaining our what could be a comedy act in my mind, to the not too receptive people around us, we left the store and the other patrons were pretty happy about that I'm sure! When we got to the car I had to tell Mom the hilarious story, and she kicked out in her broken way, “you shouldn't be laughing, you’re just lucky she has a strong heart”!
To this day I don't think Marcy finds it as funny as I do but, this is one of my favorite stories, and I’m so glad I was on the journal writing wagon, at the time and wrote it down.
