I did something that I've said that I'd never do this weekend: I flew into Flint, Michigan.
To understand why I said I'd never go back, you have to understand that my father (aka my sperm donor) is in the psychotic homicidal end of the crazy spectrum. The last time I was here, I was 8 years old and we drove out in the middle of the night so my father wouldn't know we were leaving. I don't exactly have good memories of this town, and I swore up and down that I'd never be back.
I had every intention of sticking to that idea, but my Grandpa and my Uncle still live here and my Grandpa wound up in the ICU this weekend, so I got on a plane Friday and I'm sitting in the airport to go home right now. Yay for free WiFi. Grandpa was admitted last Sunday night with a GI bleed. The GI doctor removed a colon polyp on Wednesday and we all thought that was that, but on Thursday Grandpa started hemmorhaging again so they took him back for emergency surgery. It turned out that he had diverticulosis that had turned most of his colon necrotic, so the surgeron took out most of his colon. Grandpa scared all of us half to death on Friday. He was still on the ventilator when we got to the hospital and looked like death warmed over. He was able to come off the vent on Saturday and has been making steady progress since then. He'll have a colostomy for a while, but the surgeon thinks he can reattach things in a few months. Grandpa should be moved into a regular room today, so I felt like it was safe to get on a plane home.
You really don't know the definition of "depression" until you visit Flint. The town is economically very depressed, since its economy was largely based on General Motors plants that have shut down one by one over the years. When you drive through the town, at least every third house is boarded up and vacant. In some areas, there will be one occupied house on an entire block. People don't smile in the stores, and you don't see kids playing outside. Aside from the economic depression, it feels like a cloud of bad feelings come over you when you touch down in the Flint airport. Some of it is just me and my negative associations with this town, but some of it is just this place.
I just might kiss the dirt when my plane lands in San Antonio later this afternoon.
To understand why I said I'd never go back, you have to understand that my father (aka my sperm donor) is in the psychotic homicidal end of the crazy spectrum. The last time I was here, I was 8 years old and we drove out in the middle of the night so my father wouldn't know we were leaving. I don't exactly have good memories of this town, and I swore up and down that I'd never be back.
I had every intention of sticking to that idea, but my Grandpa and my Uncle still live here and my Grandpa wound up in the ICU this weekend, so I got on a plane Friday and I'm sitting in the airport to go home right now. Yay for free WiFi. Grandpa was admitted last Sunday night with a GI bleed. The GI doctor removed a colon polyp on Wednesday and we all thought that was that, but on Thursday Grandpa started hemmorhaging again so they took him back for emergency surgery. It turned out that he had diverticulosis that had turned most of his colon necrotic, so the surgeron took out most of his colon. Grandpa scared all of us half to death on Friday. He was still on the ventilator when we got to the hospital and looked like death warmed over. He was able to come off the vent on Saturday and has been making steady progress since then. He'll have a colostomy for a while, but the surgeon thinks he can reattach things in a few months. Grandpa should be moved into a regular room today, so I felt like it was safe to get on a plane home.
You really don't know the definition of "depression" until you visit Flint. The town is economically very depressed, since its economy was largely based on General Motors plants that have shut down one by one over the years. When you drive through the town, at least every third house is boarded up and vacant. In some areas, there will be one occupied house on an entire block. People don't smile in the stores, and you don't see kids playing outside. Aside from the economic depression, it feels like a cloud of bad feelings come over you when you touch down in the Flint airport. Some of it is just me and my negative associations with this town, but some of it is just this place.
I just might kiss the dirt when my plane lands in San Antonio later this afternoon.
Posts
Post a Comment