re-entry in reverse

It is known among the staff here that the week, esp. the two or three days before we return to Helene, can get crazy. Moving from one culture to the other is stress enough without last minute chores, travel issues and just the anxiety of separation from those we love and leave. It's reentry in reverse. Just like the time before a baby is born, it's transition. Usually in this transition I become a basket case, emotional, oversensitive, ridiculous. This return from the states was escalated the “week of” by feverish waiting for a child to be born. This baby had to be born BEFORE I had to returned.
On Monday (June 7) Larry flew back to Honduras. On Tuesday the doctor tells us that if our new granddaughter refuses to arrive, he will meet us at 6 a.m. at the hospital on Thursday to induce; all of his calculations about the baby's weight show that she is a healthy, fullterm baby. Wednesday, the excitement grew as we tackled the To Do List - little things that make for a wonderful homecoming. The other grandparents are called to come, schedule laid out, groceries picked up. Then in the middle of Wednesday afternoon, I receive a frantic call from my sister in Tennessee. She is enroute to the place where our mother with Alzheimer's resides. The administrator has called her to come as soon as possible. They noticed mother had not come to breakfast or lunch and they found her crying in pain in her bed. My sister plans to take her to ER. I plead with her instead to call EMTs and an ambulance. I promise to come immediately if I need to. When she arrived, there was no question about calling 911. On the busiest day her company had had in the last two years, my sister left work and endured 8 ½ hours with our mother, not only answering questions from the doctors, but the endless repetition of our mom's illness. The same questions over and over. After going through tests and diagnostic procedures to discover our mother's pain was a severe infection, all were back home by 1 a.m.
Thursday morning at 11:25 a.m. Felicity was born weighing 8 lbs. 15 oz. I was so honored to be beside my daughter during the birth process. What a joyous event! The next day was homecoming. And then, as subtle as ever, my transition began to process as I realized my visit was completed, my mission for this time was done. God so graciously walked me through the hassle of traveling back to Honduras without tears shed or the longing ache to stay. It was time to return.
Still I leave my sister in charge once again of our mother and her needs, two daughters with their husband/family, and one daughter who has graduated and moved to a new place,and two precious grandchildren. Some missionaries never have the opportunity to be present at graduations, births, emergencies, deaths, etc. I am thankful for all the people in my family's lives that afford me this opportunity to be here.