Whidbey Island

Last Friday we drove down to Whidbey Island in Washington for a small reunion with John's cousins, offspring of his father's cousin. We arrived at the cabins in late afternoon and were greeted with hugs and much excitement.

Craig, Patty(Craig's wife), Mary, John and Ian

John's sister and Mary painted the design on the shed doors when they were youngsters. This was our first trip to the cabin since 1984. Most of the evening was spent with reminiscing and making feeble attempts to rectify a family tree! It was a very special time.

On Saturday morning we visited Mary's house and gorgeous garden.

Mary is also an artist with unusual creations made of mussel shells.

It is very difficult to capture the mysterious beauty of these pieces

because they rely on light to transform them.

We enjoyed lunch and ice cream cones in Coupeville before returning to the cabin for an afternoon siesta. When it was time to get ready for dinner at Ian's...John was feverish and not feeling well. I decided that it would be a good idea to get him back to Canada and to a hospital so we headed north.

By 8:30pm we arrived at Peace Arch Hospital and soon after that John was seen in Emergency. After viewing a chest x-ray and vitals the doctor decided to keep him overnight. When I returned on Sunday morning he was in a room on the "geriatric" floor...and not feeling any better...still feverish.

The lab results came back on Sunday night and they scurried to transfer John into isolation. Apparently he had contracted RSV...a respiratory virus and they did not want to risk contaminating other elderly patients. His "isolation" room was the ward's activity room filled with equipment, chairs and miscellaneous physiotherapy equipment. Although it offered him privacy...it was also lonely.

On Monday morning I arrived to find another gentleman in his bed and the nurse explained why they had isolated John. She took me to his new room and showed me the gear that I was supposed to wear while visiting him.

Adrian and Marika visited on Monday afternoon.

This morning we waited until almost 11:00am for the doctor to visit. He explained that there was nothing more that could be done for him in the hospital and that he would probably be more comfortable at home. We agreed. So I loaded him into the car and brought him home. It will take time for him to feel totally stable again...he is still a bit wobbly...but happy to be on his own couch and in his own bed!

Our visit to Whidbey was too short and we hope to return soon!