Flight fright, quiet time for Ed

I mis-spoke "majorly" when I wrote last night that Melissa's flight was getting her here around midnight. She flew from Cedar Rapids to Chicago O'Hare, had to rush to board her flight to Columbus, the plane pushed away from the gate, and the next thing she knew the cabin went black and the pilot was announcing "Evacuate!" She was the second person down the shute at the back of the plane. The pilot had spotted smoke and saw ground crew running away from the plane. Turned out the smoke came from the vehicle that pushes the plane from the gate, and the crew returned with fire extinguishers, fire trucks came, the passengers were led back into the terminal. As you might guess, she was rather hysterical and called Mark immediately. Once she calmed a little, she called me. United eventually announced that the passengers could board a flight that was going to Columbus, then Dayton, but then that plan was cancelled. She re-booked on an early morning flight. Meanwhile, I called my cousin Dot who lives not far from O'Hare, and after a few phone calls among the three of us, Dot and Jack picked up Melissa, took her to their house for some food and sleep, and delivered her to O'Hare this morning. She got here around 9:30 a.m.

We think Ed heard her tell her tale to him. He wasn't passing out smiles today and slept much of the morning and into the afternoon. Caregiver Nicole got him awake, however. She bathed him and changed the bed linens, chatting away with him. Afterwards, he stayed awake and occasionally followed a voice or a face with his eyes. The coughs continued today but they are mostly feeble attempts. Father Brosmer from St. Cecilia came and anointed Ed for the final time. This was Ed's third anointing of the sick, but this time he did not participate in the prayers since he isn't speaking. A hospice nurse called to check on all of us both during the day and this evening. I have cut the "hired help" back to just Nicole from 4 to 6.

Judi cooked tonight, and grandsons Josh and Robby were here as were Debbie and Tom. Overnight tonight we have Sherry and Melissa, of course, plus Debbie.