Plans and new plans

I am finding that no matter what the point in life you are currently living, it is still very difficult to make plans too far out from where you are at that moment. Mama and I are virtually on our own. We have the animals and the farm to tend to, but we do not have to answer for the direct needs of anyone -as we did when we had our seven children at home. You would think that planning Mama’s surgery would be an easy issue. Pick a date. Clear your calendar. Get it done. Move on. That has not proved to be the case. Now all the plans we made are on standby. I am not complaining. Just stating the facts.

Right now, Maggie is the wild card. She has a doctor’s appointment on the 3^rd and the 8^th of this month. During those appointments she hopes to find out what her treatment options are and at what point they will begin. Those dates do not directly overlay with Mama’s scheduled knee surgery on the 18^th of this month, but her surgery may have to be postponed so she is physically able to help Maggie should her prognosis call for surgery to deal with the cancer. Someone will have to be there to help after a surgery. Mama is the someone of choice. I understand that. She is always my someone of choice. So, we will keep our appointments and Maggie will keep her appointments and we will plan according to the dates Maggie is given whether or not Mama will get her surgery done this summer. We will know more about Mama’s prognosis and related treatments when we see the doctor on the 12^th.

Adding to the summer’s overlapping, conflicting plans, Victoria has scheduled vacation for herself at the end of July into the beginning of August. She is planning a trip to Honduras to visit Cori, Nate and the kids. At this point, neither Mama nor I can plan to go with her. She is quite capable of handling the trip by herself, but if she goes Mama will want to go also. Depending on our finances and the progress of our business through this month, Mama could perhaps go but there would be a financial hardship to us in her going and I would have to wait until either much later in the year or early next year to make the trip. And, to make that trip, Mamas surgery would have to be further postponed until later in August. Perhaps September.

At this point there are too many unknown factors in the equation. Maggie is still the determining factor for this month. Victoria has become the wild card for next month. Only the Lord knows what August will bring to hold us back. The adage “failing to plan is planning to fail” certainly applies to life in general, but a plan is only that. We have to execute our plan based on the needs of those who need our help and attention as long as we are able to accommodate those needs. However, at some point, Mama will be forced to reckon with her need for the corrective surgery on her knees. Hopefully, she will not wait until it is an emergency situation. Which is where Maggie is literally, in the medical sense, and Victoria is only by constraints forced upon her by her employer.

We should know by the time Mama sees the doctor on the 12^th whether or not she will be available for surgery. She wants to put it off as long as possible. That is her heritage. When I know something like that is pressing me, I would rather get it over with and move on. Like fasting, there is no “good” time. It always interferes with life. There are always things that can be done to justify waiting for a “better” time. A more “convenient hour”. Like Maggie, if it must be done, I would rather get it done and over with.

We have a plan in place. At least, I think we do.