Still Here, But on the Way (I Think)

Trey Smith

Well, I ended up not taking the train yesterday to White Salmon. Della's condition changed and so it turns out she will not be released at the time they originally thought. In fact, she is no longer IN White Salmon. Yesterday afternoon she was transported by ground ambulance to Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Oregon. She is now one hour closer to me, but with no car, that doesn't make much difference!

That's not entirely true. One of the readers of this blog is my step-mother's niece. She has volunteered to go up and beyond the call of duty to drive today from Oregon to pick me up and take me to White Salmon to fetch both the car and some of my wife's belongings. This is not a trivial matter by any stretch of the imagination. This woman -- who has never met me in person -- has volunteered to set her life aside to drive several hundred miles (all told) to help me get to my ailing wife. Not only that, but my next door neighbor and a young friend have both volunteered to come feed our dogs, if and when the situation might warrant that.

You know, it's not uncommon for any of us sometimes to get sort of down on the world. Things don't go as we had hoped and it can cause a person to think that you're stranded on an island with nowhere to turn. Often, when frustration seems ripe to turn to despair, someone out of the blue offers a helping hand and you realize that there are scores of good people in the world. All it takes is for you (me) to swallow your (my) pride and to ask for help.

So, hopefully, later today or early tomorrow morning I will be on my way to White Salmon to pick up our car and prepare Della's rented room to be vacated. Once I get that accomplished, I will start the return trip back with a scheduled long stop in Portland to see my dearly beloved.