Back to Everyday Life

The memorial service for Grumpy Old Man was beautiful. I actually managed to get through the eulogy without crying and it was so wonderful to see all of the people that came to pay their last respects to him. Mcgyver heard many stories about his father as he was growing up that GOM's childhood friends shared with him.

And my friends. I do not have words to describe how much I value and appreciate them. Since the memorial service was held at our home, I fully intended on pulling out my usual Mar*tha Ste*wart and taking care of everyone. My friends had other plans for me. They completely took over-preparing food, filling dishes when they got low-washing dishes to give back to people who had so thoughtfully brought a dish to pass-all the while insisting that I focus on my family. They were angels in bodies that day let me tell you.

Yesterday found me back into the mix at the office. It felt good to focus on work. This week is going to fly by as we have a few major presentations happening on Thursday then the long weekend.

And I am doing something positive-beginning to make preparations for a trip to Dis*ney-the one place that we all seem to run to when we need our batteries re-charged. Where else would a crazy family like ours go except to the "Happiest Place on Earth" to spend time together and heal?

Father's Day

Father's Day will forever be a bittersweet day in the McGyver house from now on. Grumpy Old Man lost his fight shortly after midnight yesterday. It was terribly hard to let him go, for McGyver to have to say good bye to his father on this day of all days. But at the same time, it was appropriate that GOM would meet his Heavenly Father on this day.

Grumpy Old Man was a no nonsense kind of guy. He did not want a funeral. Instead, we will honor him with a memorial service at our home on Saturday, followed by one of his favorite activities-a fish fry.

We will eat the fish that GOM would spend every winter catching for just such an occasion-a celebration of a life well lived, a way to honor an honorable man.

Rest in peace Grumpy Old Man, you will be missed.

Day 9

Things have gone from bad to worse. Grumpy Old Man is losing his battle with this illness that came on so suddenly and refuses to loosen its grip.

I cannot believe how unbearably hard it is to watch my McGyver, my rock-have to come to grips with the eventual outcome of all of this.

Please keep us in your prayers and for a quick passing of our dear GOM.

Day 8

This waiting is torture. Nothing new to report, platelets refuse to budge. It seems as if they correct one thing and another thing happens. The walk on the tight rope continues

Day 6

The vigil continues. Today's chest x-ray showed marked improvement. Ventilator settings have been reduced. Both positives. Unable to remove the vent until platelets come up just in case the Grumpy Old Man (GOM) has another setback-removing it now could prove to be fatal. Platelets still not budging. Do you think it is possible that my GOM's platelets are just as stubborn and grumpy as he is? Perhaps I should change his name to Grumpy Old Platelet Man LOL.

The healthcare team has decided that this course of treatment is not working so they are changing some things up today.

Baby steps forward-I'll take them as long as we continue to move in the right direction

Day 5

It is day 5 of the hospital vigil for the Grumpy Old Man. I never thought I would say that I am happy to have spent 5 days in the hospital but when you have a critically ill loved one, you pray for another minute, another hour, another day. With each passing hour, we all try to will his body to fight-if our mental energy that is being expended could heal him, I guarantee you that he would be walking out the door of the hospital today. But it can't. So we wait, we pray, and we beg the blood in his body to stop fighting itself and start regenerating. We have been fortunate enough to be able to rent a room at this hospital's version of a Ronald McDonald house for grown-ups. McGyver won't leave his dad's room to sleep but it has allowed me, Dreamsicle and some other family members some respite each day.

And so the vigil continues...

Prayers Please

Tonight I am typing this from the 5th floor of a local hospital as my father in law lies in a bed near me. He is on life support. Thursday, he was out looking for a jeep to purchase with McGyver. Friday morning our worlds changed. He has developed a very rare illness which has left him with virtually no platelets. Without getting into to much detail, the efforts they have put in place are vast, please keep my Grumpy Old Man in your thoughts and prayers, he needs all of the back up he can get.

It's Not Always Easy

Dreamsicle has been such an easy child to take care of. Partly because we are "seasoned" parents, partly because we knew what to expect and were able to roll with the ups and downs that first year. This second year of her being part of her forever family has been smooth, easy sailing. Until now.

Dreamsicle is a perfectionist. With a capital P. She must have order in her life, at all costs. We try extremely hard to keep that order, that sense of normalcy and routine for her. With all of the changes that have occurred in our family recently she has regressed. Almost back to when we first came home.

I can't lie-this is tearing me up.

The birth of the little Pea was the first thing to rock her world, then U*Haul came home for a brief visit, then U*Haul, Little Pea and Pixie left her universe. Add to that the fact that Chester came home, we went camping last weekend in a new trailer, and new people/faces are showing up at the house to see Chester and you begin to get the picture of what amounts to massive amounts of change for my 3.5 year old beauty.

So I have a little cling-on who is a teary mess and begging me not to leave her side.

Back to attachment parenting 101 which we will happily do but it is heartbreaking to watch her suffer

The Day We (Almost) Missed Chester...

Last Friday Chester arrived back in the Mitten State safe and sound. We (almost) missed him. Allow me to take you back to the moment of his arrival from his first deployment. He arrived in the middle of the night, it is an hour drive to the airport from our home. Needless to say, waking up a two year old (at the time), gathering all of our welcome home signs, etc and heading out to begin the drive to the airport was extremely hectic. His plane arrived a few minutes early so he called us from the Tarmac where I proceeded to shout at him "don't you dare walk down that hall until we get into the airport!" After 3-4 additional phone calls I felt comfortable that everyone was in the perfect Kodak position and allowed him to get off of the plane.

Fast forward to his arrival last Friday. We learned our lesson from the first time oh yes we did. We arrived at the airport a full 30 minutes before his plane was scheduled to land. We were so early that I decided I could bop on over to the Star*bucks on the other side of the airport to grab us some coffee. At the same time Aunt Genious took Dreamsicle to the bathroom. Imagine my surprise when 20 minutes later I come back to McGyver looking like the cat that swallowed the canary. I noticed strange people hanging around the table we had commandeered but thought they must be the family from the other Marine that was flying in with Chester. One of them seemed to be reading one of the signs we had made and he was holding it awfully close to his face. Imagine my surprise when the sign was put down and sitting in the chair was Chester!

His plane had arrived right when we were pulling in to the airport. Early again! This time he thought he would be smart and wait up near the jetway until his scheduled arrival time to keep his mom from having a heart attack again. The only problem with that plan was that he thought the time he was supposed to arrive was earlier than he had told us. So, he got off the plane, walked down the hall and entered the airport to be greeted by....McGyver.

So glad that he is getting out of the Marine Corps in August-I don't think my heart could take it.