Winter Returns to Ottawa – Moving Day With A Twist
Wednesday of this week, I was able to chip away the last of the ice pack that had been covering my driveway for most of the winter. Then, Wednesday afternoon, I received a call from the Queensway Carleton Hospital staff that a spot had come up for my 93 y.o. father at the Forest Hill long term care facility very close to my home. Two bits of good news in the same day!
When you get a call like this, you have 24 hours to respond with a yes/no answer or the spot gets offered to the next individual in the queue. Since the facility is within walking distance of my home and was one of our top picks for my father, whose level of medical care needs were now higher than could be offered at his former assisted-living residence, I was quick to get back to them with a “Yes” response. Once a spot is available and agreement reached, the hospital doesn’t waste any time getting the patient ready for transfer. Friday morning at 9AM was quickly arranged as the transfer time. I knew that my Friday would be a busy one!
That’s the “Moving Day” part of the story.
The “Twist” would be provided by the weatherman and by the weather. Thursday night, the weatherman said that Ontario was in for a heavy duty winter storm that would begin to affect Ottawa overnight or early in the morning and continue all day. Thankfully, the weatherman’s prediction was off by a few hours and the 9AM Friday morning transfer went smoothly without any problems.
About noon, the storm arrived, and the above image and the following images give some idea of what I faced for the rest of the day!
The parking lot for the Old Quarry trail had lots of space compared to the overflow parking issues only a few days earlier.
By the time that nightfall arrived, my father was sound asleep in his new bed, his friends and staff at Stonehaven Manor (his former assisted-living retirement residence) had been updated on my father’s condition and given the good news of the move and I headed back to Forest Hill to deliver my last items for the evening.
Despite the weather and the hectic activities of the past couple of days, it was nice to see my father sleeping in something other than a hospital bed again and I was able to head home and get a bit of sleep too!
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Good news about your father’s move, and isn’t that always the way with the weather?