SERENDIPITY

Marin Independent Journal, September 2024

ser·en·dip·i·ty /serənˈdipədē/

noun A combination of events which have come together by chance to make a surprisingly good or wonderful outcome.  

I have always told my boys “What goes around, comes around.” I encouraged them to be kind and compassionate telling them that good karma would follow them everywhere and in the end they would be rewarded in some way for their kindness.  Jake at age 6 got tired of me telling him this and tired of trying so hard to be kind (especially to his brothers) and one day quite seriously asked me “Just how long does it take to come back around?”  I had no answer because I knew that sometimes it seems to take a long time but I still believed it to be true.  

Dad called to tell me that his sister, my Aunt Margie, was taken to the hospital.  Living alone, she had fallen and passed out.  Her neighbor found her and called an ambulance.  At the hospital she was found to have extremely low blood sugar and pneumonia, was treated and was being discharged to a long term care facility (LTCF).  Margie had only a stepson who she was estranged from so my Dad was going to fly across the country and check on her and see if there was anything she needed.  I offered to tag along and he accepted.  

We met in Chicago and then rented a car to drive down to West Frankfort, Illinois, a five hour drive straight south.  My Aunt was in her late 80’s and had been living alone for quite some time.  When we entered her home we found everything in order.  Files in her desk drawer with all of her financials neatly sorted and labeled.  Her freezer full of frozen dinners she had cooked and labeled.  Nothing was out of place.  She had been taking good care of herself.  The only thing we had noticed lately in speaking to her over the phone was a certain paranoia that had crept into her life.  Whether it was her stepson who she was convinced wanted to kill her or her life long neighbors who she thought were after her money.  After settling in at the house we headed to the LTCF that she had been discharged to a few days before.  The place looked clean enough but when we walked into her room she immediately begged us to get her out of there.  That they were not caring for her, that she had to leave.  Because of her paranoia I had no idea whether or not she was telling us the truth but what I did know was that it didn’t matter because it was HER truth and I needed her to be somewhere she felt safe.  Was that even possible?  We assured her that we would go home and make some calls and be back to take her elsewhere.  She agreed she could wait.  

My Dad and I headed back to her house and I started the arduous process of trying to find a long term care facility where Aunt Margie would feel safe.  Not being from the area made this process exponentially more difficult.  I started by finding facilities on the web and checking out their reviews, making a list of who to call and then started the calls.  I proceeded to call one after the other asking about patient to caregiver ratio, CMS accreditation etc.  but it was difficult to tell over the phone what was going to work and many had no openings.  I started making appointments to see the different facilities surrendering to the fact that we had a long week ahead of us.  I had to admit that deep down I didn’t think there was going to be any LTCF that would be good enough for Aunt Margie. And then I got on the phone with one of the Administrators of one of the facilities.  She seemed kinder and more interested than the others and asked me some pointed questions about my Aunt.  When I told her my Aunt’s name she said “Margie Byrne?  Does she live on South Main?”  I said “yes, why?”   

And to my wonderment she said “Oh, you must bring her here.  I grew up next door to Margie and when my mother was very sick Margie took care of her until the day she died.  I’m forever indebted to her and would consider it an honor to take care of her.” 

What goes around comes around .  .  .