Pat and I always told the girls: If they put me on life support, step on the air hose!" And I have always said I want to be cremated, and that they should then take the ashes for a ride on a yacht in San Francisco Bay, have a nice meal, then walk over to the side and say, "Oops! There goes Mom!"
So I flew out to San Francisco Friday, February 5. Round trip out of Mason City at a bargain price. (Still not completely paid off, though.) I was staying with Linda and Dick, and they picked me up at the airport. Linda was to host an Open House/Memorial for Pat on Sunday. Saturday the girls came over to check on the arrangements for the Open House. Pat's boss, Keith, was paying for the catering.
A couple of hours after the girls arrived at Linda's, they said, "Well, we're going to go pick up Dad." They came back a couple of hours later with the green funeral home container carried in a dark blue velvet sack. I held them for awhile. Then, as they were getting ready to leave, Jessica said, "Do you want to spend another night with Dad?" I said, "Does he still snore?"
For the Open House, the girls arranged a poster board on the piano, with the ashes on top of the piano. They used some of the pictures I took with me. They also put a picture of Pat on top, the one Jessica used on "Dad Post 2." (I think that was the subject line on the email.)
Pat died January 27, 2010. Annie graduated May 27 from nurses' training. Jessica and Katie took the ashes to the ceremony, and Linda held them for awhile. Annie was well represented with family and friends.
That's the news so far about the ashes. Although I'm beginning to doubt that Jessica will ever scatter the ashes on a favorite beach. We did, of course, remind them to watch which way the wind is blowing if they do scatter the ashes.
We are all in agreement that Annie's job with a private case management firm is an excellent spot for her. She will be working with patients with dementia. She also passed the board certification test and simply went on line recently to find out that she had passed. She said it's simply pass/fail. She also said the questions can be tricky.
With posting on this blog, I have completed all the tasks I wrote out for myself for today. Katie says she only posts on her blog when she knows what she wants to write about. I suggested it doesn't have to be profound. Only to find myself waiting until I know what I want to write about. Reviewing earlier posts helps.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
I see it's been over two years since I last posted. News has changed. My mother has made a choice of assisted living facilites in Mason City. Now we have to wait, as Kentucky Ridge is currently full. She chose a medium-sized apartment, but a small might come up sooner. If so, she could move in there and switch to a medium-sized when one becomes available.
My daughter Jessica fell off one of her horses and ended up with a broken left arm. This happened over two months ago. Finally, they put in a plate, as the bone wasn't healing. She's now back in a cast, which supposedly makes it possible for her to ride again. I am not too excited about her getting back on a horse with one arm in a cast, but she says she will be very careful, as she doesn't want to go through all that again.
Daughter Annie completed her nurse's training and is now working with a private case management company. She will be working with clients with dementia. She reported her first client is 90, and resistant to help. Then adds the client is sweet. So Annie will do well with that population.
Their dad died January 27 in Berkeley's Alta Bates Hospital. He had multiple health issues, including liver failure, congestive heart failure, diabetes and kidney failure. He was taken off dialysis because his blood pressure was too low, and died that night. Jessica had called at 10:30 a.m. about taking him off dialysis, then called again at 1:30 a.m. I asked her, "What's up?" and she said simply, "He's gone." "Oh, God," was my response.
It was hardest on Jessica and Annie, particularly Annie with her training as well as being much closer to Berkeley. While it has mostly been me and a cat or two for nearly 20 years, and that was fine, I am now experiencing bouts of loneliness, which I didn't before.
Will get to Jessica and Annie and the ashes another time.
My daughter Jessica fell off one of her horses and ended up with a broken left arm. This happened over two months ago. Finally, they put in a plate, as the bone wasn't healing. She's now back in a cast, which supposedly makes it possible for her to ride again. I am not too excited about her getting back on a horse with one arm in a cast, but she says she will be very careful, as she doesn't want to go through all that again.
Daughter Annie completed her nurse's training and is now working with a private case management company. She will be working with clients with dementia. She reported her first client is 90, and resistant to help. Then adds the client is sweet. So Annie will do well with that population.
Their dad died January 27 in Berkeley's Alta Bates Hospital. He had multiple health issues, including liver failure, congestive heart failure, diabetes and kidney failure. He was taken off dialysis because his blood pressure was too low, and died that night. Jessica had called at 10:30 a.m. about taking him off dialysis, then called again at 1:30 a.m. I asked her, "What's up?" and she said simply, "He's gone." "Oh, God," was my response.
It was hardest on Jessica and Annie, particularly Annie with her training as well as being much closer to Berkeley. While it has mostly been me and a cat or two for nearly 20 years, and that was fine, I am now experiencing bouts of loneliness, which I didn't before.
Will get to Jessica and Annie and the ashes another time.
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