Remember when I wrote about how emotional I get when I watch Amy’s wedding video, and how thankful I am that all of my family is here to celebrate with me on my wedding day? Well, those words haunted me Saturday night, when an event happened that made me realize it’s still possible that we won’t all make it.

My grandpa fell on the sidewalk walking home (across the street) from our house on Saturday night. My grandma and grandpa had come over to celebrate my dad’s birthday with us and watch the wedding video that we’ll play after the ceremony. They stayed until about 9:15, and we all gathered around the door to say goodbye. My mom watched them go through the front window until she thought they were across the street. As we all turned away to go about our evening, we heard the doorbell quickly ring three times. My mom opened the door as my dad looked out the window, and I heard my grandmother’s worried voice: “Jim has fallen.”

We all rushed to get our shoes on and go across the street, where my grandpa was lying on his side on the sidewalk. My dad was there first, asking grandpa questions. Could he feel everything? Could he move? Could he roll onto his back? With some maneuvering, Dad helped Grandpa roll onto his back and then sit up, so that he and Matt could get underneath his arms and lift him.

When they had him standing, I could see that his face was bleeding on the side that had been against the pavement. It looked like his mouth was bleeding the most, although there was a trickle of blood running from his temple.  It occurred to me at that moment that I don’t think I have ever seen my grandpa bleed.

Dad and Matt tenderly walked Grandpa into the house, where my mom and grandma were ready with towels to clean him up. My mom had called 9-1-1, so the paramedics would arrive soon. I went out on the front porch to watch for them.

I flagged down the fire engine and went inside to watch as the paramedics went about examining Grandpa and gathering information about him. It appeared that he had hit his head on the pavement, and he was having trouble answering basic questions. (Who is the president? What month is it? What holiday is coming up?) Although he seemed to improve as time went on, we were all still concerned because of the nature of the injury, and decided it would be best for him to take an ambulance to the hospital.

Matt and I stayed home, waiting to hear news from my mom and dad about Grandpa. He had seemed to be improving as he recovered from the initial shock of the fall, so I almost expected that we would get a call saying that they had checked him out and he was fine, just banged up a bit. Instead, my dad called to tell me that he had taken a turn for the worse. He had fluid in his lungs an his oxygen levels were dangerously low when he arrived at the hospital. They had to sedate him and put a breathing tube in, and they were going to give him a CAT scan. I tried to calm myself enough to keep from shaking as I phoned  my sister to fill her in.

How could he have fluid in his lungs? I didn’t see that one coming at all. Now I was really scared. I desperately wanted something to do. Something was going wrong, and what could I do about it? Nothing. I couldn’t help my grandpa at all in this moment, except to pray.

I need a little distraction, so I painted my nails and watched The Office on the couch with Matt, who kept looking over to check on me and wipe tears from my face, and made me some hot chocolate. (Thanks, love.) I alternately laughed and cried, trying not to think too much about what could happen and whether Grandpa would be able to make it to our wedding.

Hours later, my dad came home and let me know that Grandpa was in the ICU and still had the breathing tube in, but they were able to get most of the fluid off of his lungs. He was stable and they would try to remove the breathing tube soon. When they removed his breathing tube on Monday, his oxygen levels remained normal, and he has since started to act more like himself, including cracking jokes.

I don’t need Thanksgiving to remind me of how much I have to be thankful for. I am so thankful that my grandpa is recovering. I pray that the doctors’ continued testing will discover more about his health and what may have caused him to fall.