So Appreciative

My family is so blessed with all of the support and love we have been getting since my Dads passing.

It was weird arriving at the ranch on Monday evening. I had a mixture of emotions. I was sad because the realization that he was not going to be in the house when I opened the door but also some relief that he was not going to be there, because his suffering was over and that he was finally in a better place and his aches and pains were over.

He certainly did not deserve to have to live like he had for the past four plus years. Confined to a wheel chair is a life no one wants. I assure it was not the life he wanted. He lets us know that daily. We were fortunate to keep the pressure sores away for a lot longer than I thought we would be able to, but those eventually came as well. Colleen worked her ass off trying to keep him comfortable, and she did that right up until the end. I certainly hope that she has paved her road to heaven when her time comes.

The last couple of days we have been working on the arrangements for Dads service. Thankfully Cindy and her family did get to Washington DC with other kids from Cases 6th grade class. They are supposed to visit Arlington Cemetery today and if the weather holds out Case and a couple of other kids were supposed to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. We are waiting to hear on that. I so hope that he was able to do that.

I had the fortune to visit Arlington many years ago and was able to view the Changing of the Guard ceremony and to walk around and see many of the notable grave sites (JFK, Joe Louis, etc). The changing of the guard ceremony is a very interesting thing to watch and the dedication and attention to detail by the guards is amazing. The way they snap their heals together sounds like a rifle shot.

I have had the fortune to visit many of the famous American military cemeteries around the world. They were always emotional for me, because you just realize how many people made the ultimate sacrifice in order for us to live the life that we have today. Maybe that is why I am so frustrated and angry with how we seem to be pissing all over that with all the bullshit that is going on in our current political environment. We all can and should be doing better!

As I said at the beginning of this installation we have been so blessed with the outpouring of love and support we have been getting from friends and family. It is very much appreciated. Colleen and I have been busy rearranging some of the house and some of the items we had installed to try and make life easier for Dad.

Sadly we have a fair bit of catheter supplies left and are trying to find a way to give them to someone that could use them. Home health won’t take them back, but we sure hate to throw them away. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to let me know.

There is a lot of irony in this world. Mom and Dads have been so blessed with the service they get from their mail carrier. For those that don’t know, my folks live out in the country and have a contract mail carrier. It is interesting that all through the years, the family has had strong bonds with our mail carriers. When Dad and I (in my early years) was growing up our mail carrier was Hazel Martin. Hazel and her husband were good friends of my grandparents. Anyway Hazel was also our mail carrier. They did not have any children and Hazel treated my Aunt and Dad like nieces and nephews. Bill would take my Dad fishing when he was a kid, Hazel would let my Dad drive one of her Cadillacs. She actually left one of her Cadillac’s to me when she passed (but that is a whole other story). It was a 1957 Black Cadillac behemoth. I am getting off track here, so let me try and get back to the point I was making about irony.

For the past couple of years Dad has been bitching that the State Hwy department had not been out to seal cracks in the frontage road. He and Mark/Eric (current mail carriers) would often have discussions about this issue. Dad always bitched they were doing the other end of Elk Park and never came up to this end. He actually called the Hwy Department several times about it. Well guess who showed up this week. You got it, the HWY Department crack sealing crew. Mark said he has to laugh ever time when he drives by the crew. So I guess the irony is you have to die before they will act on your complaints.

Mark and his son Eric (Eric delivers the mail one day a week for his Dad) have become almost members of the family. Dad always was looking forward to them coming, so he could get some scoop on what was going on in Butte and Elk Park. Eric also works for the Butte Water Department and is also a volunteer fireman. So Dad would always be asking about things going on around town and with the fire departments. He always would try and have a snack of some type ready for them. They got it wether they wanted it or not. In addition to bringing the mail into the house, they would also do errands for dad like taking the trash out, etc. again cannot thank them enough, for the service and for the time they took to visit with Dad.

Again our family is so appreciative of the love and support from everyone. As I mentioned during Dads last days he had a lot of visitors come to say goodbye. One of the nurses (who is a traveling nurse )that was on Dads floor stopped my sister Colleen and said she had to tell her that in all her assignments she had never seen a patient that had so many visitors come to say goodbye. So I guess he kind of went out Trump like (whom he absolutely hated) in that it was like nothing anyone had seen before.

Well enough babbling for today.