WHAAAT? That can't be right!

I was in Alexandria, Va., last week in the same hotel -- Hotel Monaco on King Street -- where I stayed in August 2015. During my stay last year, I posted something on Facebook about my experience right after I arrived. And I decided on the one-year anniversary of that FB post, I'd revisit it and share it with you on my blog. It's not so much about writing as it is an experience.

It was a worrisome and stressful situation in 2015 but read what I wrote to the end. While it could use a little editing and tightening in places, it expressed how I was feeling at the time. I could re-write it but decided not to.

So here it is, from Aug. 25, 2015. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading.

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So we had just registered in a hotel, some 600 miles from home, and were getting off the elevator on the way to the room when my cell phone rang. It was my dad. Now I told him I would be away – we discussed it yesterday – and I called him before I boarded the plane this morning. But when he called, he sounded confused, said he wasn’t feeling well and wanted me to come over. He sounded scared, which scared me. I told him to call 911 – there’s a hospital a half mile from his house – and I started trying to reach relatives back home.

To make a long story short, he’s okay. Medical personnel at the hospital checked him out and he’s okay, except somewhat dehydrated. I spent more than two hours trying to remain calm and keeping my worry at bay. And I’m grateful to my Uncle Arthur, Aunt Sharron, cousins Turae and Eric, and brother David for checking on my dad and keeping me informed as I considered the difficulty and possible costs of ending my trip and going home.

It was beautiful outside today and not too hot. There was no reason to sit around doing nothing but worrying while we waited to hear from relatives back home. So Angela and I went to have lunch, settling on a French-style café in the next block, where we sat at an outdoor table and enjoyed a couple of salads and watched the foot and vehicular traffic.

It was warm and pretty outside, and news was good from back home. But despite an exterior calm that I had been keeping for some time, I struggled getting my emotions in check. I felt stressed and couldn’t return to feeling normal.

 Then, I looked up at a passing truck for a food company called Warner (I think). And on the side of the truck was a picture of a grandmotherly looking woman and under the picture it mentioned something about recipes from Aunt Pussy.

WHAAAT? That can’t be right! Aunt Pussy?

I blinked and looked again. It really said Aunt Peggy.

So I also want to thank the Warner company and Aunt Peggy. They brought a smile to my face and lightened my mood.

Aunt Peggy, indeed.