Carrie just called….. said that Nathan called her to tell her that Patrick is in the hospital. He (Pat) thinks he had a heart attack. Pain in the chest, shortness of breath, numb left arm… sounds like a heart attack to me. Of course i can’t reach Pat. They make people turn their cell phones off in hospitals and i don’t know where he is (or if he has even been officially checked in). Apparently this happened about an hour ago.
It’s not unexpected, but it is still upsetting.
I do hope this is the turning point that allows him to return home to be closer to family.
Keep us posted. Post here; if you find out anything tomorrow, any time, call me. If you find out something and it’s critical, call anytime at all, tonight, 3AM, whatever. I’ll put the cell phone by the bed. Wake me up.
According to Streets&Trips, its about the same, Rosenburg to Panama City or Cary to Panama City. If it’s serious enough that you go, let me know and I’ll meet you there.
Thank you both…. Actually, Chris, i had not thought that sometimes a crisis like this is a turning point in a marriage. For the sake of Pat and his relationship with his kids it would be good if this made a good turn happen.
And Ramona, I have talked to Nathan and he seems to think all is well, so maybe it is. He is the one who talked to Andrea. (but I am not sure that he is just wanting all to be well) I will call Andrea later in the day tomorrow. It is good that they are still “couple” enough that she was there with him tonight and I expect she will be there tomorrow.
Pat is currently in “emergency room observation;” He has not been admitted to the hospital. Probably has something to do with their not having insurance. They have him on oxygen and are monitoring his enzymes or something. They have a stress test scheduled for 9 AM tomorrow. (Why a stress test, i wonder.)
So sometime between 11 and 1 i will call and see what is going on. Maybe they will be able to do something good. (The hospital debt is not going to do anything good for his stress level.)
I really appreciate your support, and Ramona, your offer to drive up and meet me there if it is that serious. (and i will call you in the middle of the night if anybody call me in the middle of the night with bad news.)
oh geez…when i first read chris’ post, i initiall thought family to mean the white clan and his kids
i feel like i am a bad bad person…
Actually, that is kinda what I had in mind. But it does work both ways, so I left it as is to do double duty.
🙂 Funny……. I went back and re-read your post, Chris, and that is clearly what you say. I read move back in with Andrea and be closer to his children.
Thing is, Pat needs his children and his children need him. Pat has wanted to be a daddy for so many years, and I know how i would feel in his situation. I would do about anything to stay in my children’s lives. They would be more important to me that anything else in the world, including my own health… at least until i realized that if i did not take care of my health i would not be there for them. Moving back here would mean not seeing his kids on a daily baisis…. and having to go back and forth would not work… and he probably could not and would not take the kids.
Well I wasn’t saying he should leave his boys…no way. Take them with him.
I would never want him to be apart from his kids if it was not necessary.
But being in a bad financial situation and in a bad relationship is not helping him any either…or the boys. You think they don’t pick up that things are awry? It is often healthier for the kids to have the parents split up than be uphappy together. All that is going on in the husband/wife relationship trickles down to the kids.
And as much as you think the chance of him getting custody is small…times are very VERY different. His wife might be willing to let him have primary custody or shared custody to, both are very common now days. What hurts Pat is the financial situation which in the case of divorce, depending on state laws may be split and a portion given to each party. However if the wife is still not working…there is a decision for finances and the kids too. The court will send in Social Workers to observe if him and her couldn’t agree. They would watch their interactions with the kids and make a recommendation to the court. They’ve learned that mom is not always the best caretaker, that sometimes being with dad is the best thing, and the amount of money given as child support would be likely very different too.
arg…i just want pat and his boys to be healthy, happy, and together. if the wife is a part of this picture good and if not…well that’s how it is.
Me too, Christina, me too….. I just think that Andrea would look like a very good mother and the boys would look very well cared for and mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy, especially right now.
Besides….. so far as Pat moving back to where his family (and friends) are, things have changed. He no longer has the place that was his. (Dad’s) And… Pat is not as close to us as he used to be. He has changed; his focus has changed; if he could not bring his boys, his heart would always be turned toward Florida.
So far as parents living together and bringing a child up in the middle fof parental conflict…. very true. It would be better financially if they could support only one home, but not better enough if they fought.