{"id":731,"date":"2010-03-06T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-06T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=731"},"modified":"2010-03-06T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-06T09:00:00","slug":"kidnapped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=731","title":{"rendered":"Kidnapped"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana;\">Late yesterday afternoon, my partner left to go to the grocery store, and I was fiddling around on the computer.  I would have liked to have gone to the store with him, but I cannot walk yet due to my broken leg, so I had to stay home.<\/p>\n<p>The doorbell rang.  I hobbled over and let my older brother in.  He chatted a bit about the weather, his kids, and stuff, but it was unusual for this particular brother to come visit, especially at this time of day.  I came out and asked him, &#8220;what&#8217;s up?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He said, &#8220;I never could keep anything from you.  Just accept the fact that we&#8217;re kidnapping you!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>What?<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yep, we are taking you to R&#8217;s house for our usual Friday family dinner.  You haven&#8217;t been there in over a month.  It&#8217;s time.  We miss you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I was concerned that my partner would come home and be upset that I wasn&#8217;t there.  My partner doesn&#8217;t have or use a cell phone, so I had no way to reach him.<\/p>\n<p>My brother had that all figured out.  &#8220;Don&#8217;t worry about your partner, he knows all about it.  He will meet us there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Whaaatttt?  My partner has avoided these family dinners for years.  The noise, the people, the clatter, the kids running around.  It all drives him crazy.  When did they speak with him?  I never heard him on the phone.  (My partner seldom uses the phone at all, and never takes personal calls at his office.)<\/p>\n<p>Well, no matter.  My life at the moment was out of my immediate control.  I locked up the house and carefully hobbled through the garage out to my brother&#8217;s van.  He and his son helped me to get into it, very gently.<\/p>\n<p>When we pulled up at my sister&#8217;s house, a bunch of the family all came out.  They almost carried me inside.  They helped me to a recliner in my sister&#8217;s family room.  My partner was right there, and had a seat next to me.  They waited on me hand-and-foot.<\/p>\n<p>It was so wonderful to see everyone again.  My sister prepared a great meal, even choosing items that were both low in calories and within the limits of what I can eat.  That isn&#8217;t easy to do when you&#8217;re feeding 40 people.  I was feeling so much better.  My partner even enjoyed the event.<\/p>\n<p>All too soon, it was time to go.  I was getting tired, despite how energized I was feeling.  My family helped me get into my partner&#8217;s car.  My partner had to keep reassuring them that he wouldn&#8217;t need help to get me into the house.  We have managed to do that when he has taken me out for doctor&#8217;s appointments.<\/p>\n<p>How sweet.  I cherish my lovely family.  I have indeed missed them.  It was great to be back among the living, even for a little while.<\/p>\n<p>Life is short:  show those you love that you love them.  My family sure did.<\/p>\n<p><i>PS:  I should have figured it out, but the family used email to plan this with my partner.  That&#8217;s why I didn&#8217;t hear any phone conversation.<\/i><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Late yesterday afternoon, my partner left to go to the grocery store, and I was fiddling around on the computer. 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