Holiday Timeline - 12/17-12/25/08...

...bad news in the midst of family time.... First the snow played havoc with our special meetings. The Wednesday night meeting on December 17 was canceled. Then it was up in the air about the Sunday meetings...the school location was snowed in. So it was decided to change the location to a school gym up north, a few miles from the Convention grounds so that tractors could be brought from the grounds to clear the parking lot. We made it on Sunday over snowy roads, but many others stayed home and listened on the phone via conference call.

On Saturday evening, December 20, my dad called. Larry answered, and they chatted a few seconds. Then Larry asked him if he wanted to talk to me, but my dad said he just wanted to talk to him. So they had a little visit. Larry said afterward that my dad mentioned my sister (and family) had gone down to their property. (They own 40 acres in Southern Arizona where they hope to build someday. For now, they tow a trailer down and camp out.)

The next day while our thoughts were on the Special Meetings and the snow, unknown to us, my dad was taken to the hospital. It wasn't until my sister called at 5 p.m. on December 23 that I knew. She asked me, "Did you know that dad is in the hospital?" (Ah, what?) "No..." I answered. (To myself...how did she expect me to know unless she told me?) She said he had fallen in his bedroom on Sunday, because he was dizzy. After several x-rays, a slight fracture was found in his pelvis. We continued to discuss it, when she said she had another call on her cell phone. Later when she called back she said it was Dad. (He knew her number, but he couldn't remember my home number.) So Linda gave me the hospital phone number and his room number, and I called him and talked for a little while. He said he wasn't in as much pain as Monday, and discussed the x-rays a little and that "they" were going to move him, as "they don't keep you in these 9-1-1 places very long." He sounded a little confused, as if he didn't know he was actually in Phoenix Baptist Hospital. Also, he said, "I'm not at the house right now, you know." Linda had told me that my dad would be moved to "rehab" soon.

On December 24, it snowed some more--with flakes so big they looked like snowballs! We were trying to figure out something to do to get out of the house. I should have called my dad again, but I didn't know when he was going to be moved from the hospital, and was waiting to hear what the new phone number would be.

Finally, we decided to head north a ways to the little town of Arlington. It was cute with all the snow.


Christmas Eve adventure....

We went to one of our favorite restaurants. "The Local Scoop." They have a full menu, plus lots of ice cream desserts and pie. We got there so late--a half hour before they were going to close--that they were out of pie. Larry and Rosanna had salads, while Caroline had a burger and fries.

I shared a brownie sundae dessert with Larry.

The two "Messy Monkeys!"

Walking up the street....

Cute snowman figure half buried in the snow!

When we got home, the phone was ringing. It was my sister. When I answered, she said, "I'm afraid it's bad news. Dad's gone." (OH, NO!)

She was still in Southern Arizona, but had talked to Dad on the phone during the day. He said the nurses made him do some exercises, and told her, "I'm afraid they made me worse." Friends Ed and Betty also came to see him. The other thing that happened is that he was forced to sign papers authorizing his move to the rehab center. He said that he didn't feel like going anywhere, but he signed them. Later in the day, another patient in the room saw that something was wrong with Dad and called the nurses, saying "That man is in distress!" He had stopped breathing, and the hospital wasn't able to revive him. (I don't know what all they tried...my sister mentioned chest compressions. (What about a defibrillator?) She said Dad was not happy about rehab--what he considered a "rest home" because he thought he might never get out of there. He had told my sister recently that he didn't feel he was going to live much longer but that he'd lived his life...was ready to go. So he got his wish. Just a surprise....

For Christmas Day we had family over with two children, a girl and a boy. The girl is younger than Caroline but is one of Caroline's best friends. Having company took my mind off the news of yesterday for a little while.

Here they are being goofy with their candy canes.

The moms working on a jig saw puzzle.

The dining room table after the big dinner.

Foggy Christmas Day evening....

The end to Christmas 2008.