The call

It's all so clear and then again it's not clear to me at all.  On Tuesday afternoon, October 5, 2010 California time, I received a phone call from Geoff's mother, Robin.  She was obviously upset and let me know that Geoff, my 26 year old son, was in hospital, and that "Geoff is very sick"... she was too upset to continue after telling me only this.  Understand that I am in Palm Desert, California and the call was coming from Sydney, Australia.  "Dad. Come now, just come!" another voice was now on the line and provided precious few more details. It was Geoff's sister, my daughter, Melissa.  At once my mind is racing.  Melissa lives and works in Canberra, Australia some 4 hours or 180 miles away from Robin and Geoff.  I'm wondering why is she in Sydney?  Why are they together?  What time is it there?  What the hell is going on?  But I got the message.

It was approximately 11:00 a.m. in Sydney on Wednesday, October 6 when I answered this call.  From this point all time references to these events will be based on the clock and the calendar one would use in Sydney.  I phoned my wife, Mitzi, at home to tell her what has just happened; that I was going to have to find a flight to Sydney that would get me there ASAP; that I had a boatload of work that someone was going to have to attend to while I was gone; that I needed to come home and pack and then somehow get to LAX in time to get to Sydney in time to do whatever it was I was going to do.  Sensing the panic in my voice she told me to just pack up my things in the office and start driving home. 

The fifteen minute drive between my office and my home seemed like it took fifteen hours.  Every frickin' knucklehead in the world was on the road, cutting me off, impeding my progress, keeping me from driving the 100 miles per hour that I knew I needed to in order to get to the next destination on a journey to where or what, I didn't know.  Somehow during that drive I was able to phone my daughter, Candi, on my mobile phone and let her know about the phone call.  Candi is member of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and was headed home to her 2 children at just the same time.  She sensed the urgency in my voice and asked me if I would like her to let my oldest daughter, Carri, know what I had just told her.  I told her I would appreciate it if she did and I recognized the sound of anguish in Candi's voice when she said goodbye.

I hit the door of my home in full combat mode.  Mitzi met me in the kitchen with the telephone in her hand.  Letting me know she was waiting for someone on the other end to come back on the line she assured me that she had arranged a flight from LAX to Sydney leaving in about 5 hours with incredible assistance from a Qantas customer service representative.  Knowing that I had an over 2 hour drive ahead of us and understanding the inefficiencies of international air travel and airport security I felt I had little time to waste.  Then, to my dismay, I remembered that although I had my passport in good order I did not have a current visa to enter Australia.  Another request made of the saintly Qantas representative and that was handled on my behalf.  Thank you Qantas.  I'll never forget you.

I pulled my suitcase of choice out of my closet and began to pack.  Instinctively, the first thing I packed was a grey suit, 2 dress shirts and a couple of ties.  There aren't many occasions in my life that will find me in a suit and tie but I had a strong sense I would be wearing it on this trip.  I then threw in a couple of pairs of slacks and whatever else seemed important.  In the meantime I had a couple more calls inbound on my mobile phone.  Each time I went to answer I couldn't make out who was on the other end and each time I tried to redial the caller and could not connect.  Incredible frustration was mounting.  I then remembered that Melissa had told me they were at St. George's Hospital in Kogarah, a suburb in Sydney.  I googled the hospital, found the number and then dialed.  When the receptionist answered I implored her to find Geoff's family so that I could speak to someone.  In a few minutes Robin's sister Marguerite (Mag) came on the line.  In a thick Aussie accent she told me that she had been the one trying to reach me for the past few minutes and that her mobile phone wasn't working properly in the hospital.  She would henceforth try to send text messages and I was to do the same.  She also told me there would be a conference call with some of Geoff's doctors as soon as he came out of surgery and that they would phone me from a land line in the hospital.  This was the first time I heard the word surgery.