Charles Apple

Sorry things suddenly got quiet this week here in the blog.

The short version: Just as I was going to bed Sunday night, I received a call that my dad was suddenly struck ill. So I packed a suitcase, jumped in the Deerslayer and drove 450 miles through the night to Augusta, Ga.

Dad is all just fine now. After nearly three full days in intensive care, they moved him into a regular room Wednesday afternoon. He’s been accompanied by his wife, Nora, myself, my brother and sister and a huge number of friends from his church.

Here’s a photo of my dad, left, with his three kids: Artie, myself and Caroline.

I’m the oldest, Artie is the youngest. Caroline is the cutest. This picture is about three years old, I think. I have a new one we shot yesterday but I’m not quite up to pulling out my card reader and constructing a lengthy blog piece about all this.

For a while, though, we thought we’d lose Dad. Not a good feeling.

I didn’t sleep at all Sunday — instead, I tried to stay awake driving. Monday and Tuesday, I slept on a couch in the Intensive Care waiting room. Last night, I drove up to my sister’s place for a decent night’s sleep in a real bed. I’m much better rested now. As I write this, I’m heading back downtown to University Hospital, where my dad is in room 737. I’m using the Boingo WiFi at McDonald’s in Evans, Ga. And yes, I’m lovin’ it.

The plan is to try to give dad’s wife, Nora, some time off today. I’ll volunteer to watch over him myself today and perhaps tonight, if she’s willing. Once she’s had some sleep and everyone is recharged, I’ll consider driving back home to Virginia Beach. I miss Sharon, but I’m suddenly struck with a strong urge to spend more time with my daughter, Elizabeth.

Meanwhile, I’ve been sneaking into Facebook every few hours this week for updates on Dad’s condition. I doubt I’ll update as frequently now that he’s clearly going to be OK.

I received quite a few notes that Jim Romenesko had mentioned me again in his blog this week. I’m told this brought in a LOT of traffic to my Tribune story from last week. Again, I’m glad to be of service. I had hoped to write a follo this week, but family matters have prevented that.

Also, please take note: I’m taking the blog off of semi-automatic comment moderation. I’m happy to publish any comments that advance a point of view, but a few flat-out personal attacks had snuck into my Tribune thread over the past few days. I hate to kill any comments, but — although it may not seem like it lately — Bonita and Joe and Nick are my friends. Good friends. I won’t stand for any gratitutious bashing of them.

This weekend is Mother’s Day. Give your mother some flowers and a nice present, of course.

But while you’re at it, please give your dad a big hug, too. Tell him it’s from me.

Best wishes, all.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 10:54 am and is filed under Charles Apple, VizEds Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.