The first night of our road trip was quite eventful. About an hour after falling asleep I was awakened by Emery’s cough as she slept next to me. I said her name and Austyn bolted over to our bed. For the next few minutes I took the supporting role as Austyn instructed me what to do when Emery has a seizure. We weren’t practicing, it was happening.
It’s odd to be watching your kid taking care of her kid with the calm and assurance you once had while dealing with her, but am now unable to find the medicine bag or look up a pharmacy phone number. Austyn was brilliant and within moments Emery was calm and fast asleep.
A few phone conversations later and I was off to one of the only two 24 hours Walgreens in Des Moines. The Pharmacist was kind. In order to pick up Emery’s meds, I had to enter the last 4 digits of the phone number on file. It’s 12:00 a.m. how should I know the number on file. Assuming it was my son-in-law’s I found his number in my phone and completed the phone quiz portion of the evening. But there were two prescriptions and I had to do it once again. This time the nice Pharmacist assisted by giving me the answer. We said good night and I was back in the car taking the scenic tour of Des Moines at 12:20 a.m.
Returning to the hotel, some other guest had filled my parking space forcing me to circle a few times. Besides the available spots located on the furthest end of the parking lot was one spot next to the front door with a sign: “Reserved for the Guest of the Week.” I pulled in assuming that the “Guest of the Week” had left.
As I entered the hotel I confessed to the young man behind the counter, inquiring if I would get in trouble for parking there. He responded, “Not if you’re the Guest of the Week. Congratulations!” We both laughed and I walked up stairs.
Five hours later we were up and preparing for the day; two kids that were all smiles as they talked about going to Chicago and the next hotel, both clueless of the previous nights events, and two tired moms who had shared an experience one won’t ever forget.