Rant #2,462: Stuck In the Middle With You

This past weekend was a rough one for myself and my family, and I think there are going to be many rough days to come for us.

My father took late last week, as you already know, and we found out what was wrong with him after he went to the hospital.

He has double pneumonia, which seemed to come out of nowhere.

My father was his normal self, but I sensed that something was wrong on Wednesday evening, when he was still his normal self but did not look good.

He got slammed on Thursday, wound up in the hospital, and due to the severity of what he has and at his advanced age, he really isn't himself.

He is hooked up to machines, but he still has a lot of spunk. He continually tries to rip the wires attached to him out of his body, he has tried to get up out of bed a few times, and he is basically in his own world, speaking gibberish and not making any sense.

But yesterday, after a few days without any food--he was fed intravenously--he finally ate some things, like apple sauce and mashed potatoes and Jello, and through his gibberish, he told me in sort of mixed coherent/incoherent way that he wants a Pepsi.

Same old dad.

He had another blood transfusion yesterday, and my sister actually sent me a picture of him reading the newspaper, so he goes in and out of reality right now very easily.

This whole situation is taking its toll on us all--I have spent a good portion of three days at the hospital, as has various other family members--and it is particularly hitting my mother hard, but she is also a fighter as my father is, and she is somehow getting through this.

Whether my father gets through this is another thing, but this old Marine does show signs that the isn't going anywhere just yet.

The doctor said that the rambling that he is going through is directly the result of the pneumonia. He doesn't understand where he is, it is putting him in something of an alternate reality of his own mind, and once the pneumonia is somewhat under control, he should be his old self.

Getting that pneumonia under control is the key, and he might be days away from that happening, or he may not.

I am sure that many of you people reading this have been through similar things with your older loved ones, and it is really a tenuous time, hoping and praying that things all work out.

And in the midst of all this, I supposedly have my job interview about three hours from now, and I really hope that all works out there and I get this gig.

I can work from home, which would be so beneficial to not only my own psyche, but everyone else's here, as I will continue to be available to help out my mother and my father in between everything else that I am now supposed to be doing.

I have often thought that God works in strange ways, and maybe I lost my job at just the right time, to help my parents at precisely the time that they needed it the most.

Sure, I think that to convince myself and try to rationalize everything that I have been through as an unemployed person, but maybe, just maybe, there is some truth to all of this.

Whatever the case, the last 10 months have been a living hell on so many levels, and now with my father ailing, it just adds another brick to the load.

This opportunity before me won't be easy, but I think I can handle it.

Let's see what they have to say to me before I dot my i's and cross my t's, but just looking at it right now from the outside looking in, getting this job would be a real godsend for not just me, but for my entire family.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

And through this entire craziness, I have turned to baseball as a source of comfort.

Call it what you will right now, but baseball is baseball.

It is soothing, it is fun even without the fans, and I guess you can call me a diehard, but I just love our national pastime.

The game, even in a whittled down 60-game season, is still fun, and it is plenty fun if you are a New York Yankees fan like myself, less so if you are a fan of the New York Mets.

The Yankees just swept the hated Boston Red Sox during their home opening series, on the very broad shoulders of Aaron Judge, who has hit six home runs during the past five games.

The Yankees were one of the favorites to win the World Series this year in the pre-coronavirus world, and even with the pandemic reconfiguring this season, they look every bit as good as advertised, even more so now that the oft-injured Judge is healthy.

Across the city from the Bronx to Flushing you have the Mets, who aren't winning on the field and who have now experienced the most utter indignation that you almost have to feel sorry for them.

Yoenis Cespedes, their troubled outfielder in more ways than one, vanished for a period yesterday, completely incognito for a good part of the day. Then when he finally allowed himself to be found, he told the team he decided to opt out of the season, a season that was supposed to be redemptive for him after two years away with an assortment of very strange injuries, including one supposedly caused by a wild boar on his ranch.

Cespedes showed no respect for his manager, his team and quite frankly, for himself in this latest escapade, and the impending free agent, who already earned a cool $600,000 this season for doing next to nothing, may have permanently sealed his fate with his latest escapade.

Sure, all of this is nonsense when compared to what my dad is going through, but it gives me time to relax a bit, then rev up for another days of ups and downs.

I think I can handle the roller coaster I am on now, as long as there are no further bumps in the road.

I think that not only I can make it, but my father can make it too.

It is going to take some time, but until there isn't 24 hours in a day anymore, I think time might just be on our side.

Let's hope so.