lol yeah a trip to Cleveland would involve a few minor bucket list items.
Along with many others, I actually thought of you when I was writing that because I knew you moved a lot as a kid. I moved when I was 5 from a house 200 yards from where I sit, to the house where my Dad still lives, about half a mile the other way. Not the way I imagined it working out when I left town way back when.
So I can't remember how much if any of our recent goings-on I've shared. Probably not much. So here we go, in very brief:
You all, even the kids, visited me in one of my dreams last night. It was (as always, because I dream of you, especially J, often) so nice to see you all. Sending lots, and lots of love.
So I can't remember how much if any of our recent goings-on I've shared. Probably not much. So here we go, in very brief: Justine has been away to California since mid-May. Her mother's long-term care facility made it more or less clear that they could hold off the inevitable until Justine was able to be there. They did, she went, and then the long slog of dealing with the reality: That was the only home Justine ever lived in before moving off to college and then Wyoming. Her mom and dad bought the house 55 years ago. Justine had scheduled a trip for the kids to visit grandma one last time but by the time their flight left here, it was instead to go to the memorial service. It was lovely, in the botanical garden that Kay had supported for decades. So now the kids are back home, Justine is wrapping up out there. The house is listed with a local realtor, at a breathtaking price that's more than double what it Zillow'd for just a few years ago... and is listed as a starter home. Wow. So anyway lots of aggravation because America, but in a week or two, Justine will leave her home town for what might be the last time ever. Maybe not; maybe we'll cruise through for a visit, but there's no family, her friends are all dispersed, the town is nice and the people are lovely and more than a few times, I've made plans to move there, but with so many moving pieces, the timing just never worked out. I don't know how military etc. families do it. Whoops! Transferred! Say goodbye, pack up, we're leaving Tuesday! So it's possible she'll never see that town again. Or the house, with its sprinkler system installed by her godfather's meth-addicted grandson, but a nice pool and a palm tree with mockingbird nests, possums in the yard and solar on the roof. Black widow spiders defending the hot water heater and a grapefruit tree that yields up a bushel a day but defends itself with 3-inch thorns. And through all of this, I've been at home trying to hold onto a new job. I could've taken time off, but when? I could have helped in May in June, now, in a few weeks... so I feel useless but this isn't about me. Thoughts for Justine, leaving home again. Hope to see some of you soon, and more of you eventually, as we start to explore this continent a little more.
My condolences.
I've been in that place though not in the military. I had attended 12 different schools across the country before graduating from HS. I was always the NKOTB. Not an easy life. Now I'm in a place I never went to school in other than college. All those people are gone now except the wife and immediate family and so is the possibility of going back to the home, home, in the beginning. One of them a house in Berkeley that my Dad built out of redwood. We both still some have family out there though. It's hard to let go but I've pretty much done it. She is almost there. Similar story with the wife. She spent a couple of years going back and forth to help take care of my uncle until his passing. She and her daughter pitched in to help out my cousin. Then her daughter got sick and she spent another couple of years going back and forth, one trip lasting nearly 5 months. Then the last trip when she had to return here just two days before she passed on March 17 when all hell broke loose with CV and I was in the hospital at the same time. St Patrick's Day will never be the same again. All the time, I stayed home and held the fort down. No kids but I had to help out much more with my Mom while P was gone and keep working. Every time the 17th rolled around she would have what we came to call a Jennifer day. That said it all and no more words were necessary. All of that is now 2 years ago and we have no where near as many Jennifer days. I suspect that Justine will have some Kay days. Everybody grieves differently, there are no rules. You just figure it out as you go.
I hope that Justine finds some peace through all of this and you find some inner strength to help pull you and her through this life altering time. Iffen you ever make it here to Cleveburg and decide to visit the RRHOF, I would be happy to meet you there and go through it with you. Even a Guardians game.
...
And through all of this, I've been at home trying to hold onto a new job. I could've taken time off, but when? I could have helped in May in June, now, in a few weeks... so I feel useless but this isn't about me. Thoughts for Justine, leaving home again. Hope to see some of you soon, and more of you eventually, as we start to explore this continent a little more.
So I can't remember how much if any of our recent goings-on I've shared. Probably not much. So here we go, in very brief:
Justine has been away to California since mid-May. Her mother's long-term care facility made it more or less clear that they could hold off the inevitable until Justine was able to be there. They did, she went, and then the long slog of dealing with the reality: That was the only home Justine ever lived in before moving off to college and then Wyoming. Her mom and dad bought the house 55 years ago. Justine had scheduled a trip for the kids to visit grandma one last time but by the time their flight left here, it was instead to go to the memorial service. It was lovely, in the botanical garden that Kay had supported for decades. So now the kids are back home, Justine is wrapping up out there. The house is listed with a local realtor, at a breathtaking price that's more than double what it Zillow'd for just a few years ago... and is listed as a starter home. Wow. So anyway lots of aggravation because America, but in a week or two, Justine will leave her home town for what might be the last time ever. Maybe not; maybe we'll cruise through for a visit, but there's no family, her friends are all dispersed, the town is nice and the people are lovely and more than a few times, I've made plans to move there, but with so many moving pieces, the timing just never worked out. I don't know how military etc. families do it. Whoops! Transferred! Say goodbye, pack up, we're leaving Tuesday! So it's possible she'll never see that town again. Or the house, with its sprinkler system installed by her godfather's meth-addicted grandson, but a nice pool and a palm tree with mockingbird nests, possums in the yard and solar on the roof. Black widow spiders defending the hot water heater and a grapefruit tree that yields up a bushel a day but defends itself with 3-inch thorns.
And through all of this, I've been at home trying to hold onto a new job. I could've taken time off, but when? I could have helped in May in June, now, in a few weeks... so I feel useless but this isn't about me. Thoughts for Justine, leaving home again. Hope to see some of you soon, and more of you eventually, as we start to explore this continent a little more.
A dear, town acquaintance who Weezie and I often encounter on our walks, told me this morning that she’d just been in the hospital for five days for suicidal ideation. Please keep S, the one armed, walking woman, in your thoughts. Hopefully the psychiatrist, and meds will help her.
We saw S again this morning, and she told me she's got a brain tumor that might be pressing on her optical nerve, AND a tumor on her spine, with surgery already scheduled. Please keep her in your thoughts, as she gets an MRI and has at least one surgery.
A dear, town acquaintance who Weezie and I often encounter on our walks, told me this morning that sheâd just been in the hospital for five days for suicidal ideation. Please keep S, the one armed, walking woman, in your thoughts. Hopefully the psychiatrist, and meds will help her.
We saw S again this morning, and she told me she's got a brain tumor that might be pressing on her optical nerve, AND a tumor on her spine, with surgery already scheduled. Please keep her in your thoughts, as she gets an MRI and has at least one surgery.
