Sad Update

I've meant to update our blog before now.

After spending a week going through Ronnie's things, I decided I needed to go through our house as well. I spent two days working on the basement. I can't believe all the things I threw out and gave away. It is now a comfortable, relaxing place to be. The kitchen table that we brought back from South Dakota now has a permanent in home in our basement and is right now being used to put together a puzzle.

Next, was the kitchen, den and living room. I still need to go through a couple of cabinets and make final decisions on bowls and things.

Noelle and I spent two days on her room. I was very proud of her going through things and making her own mind up as to what to keep and what to give away. It is very much teenage girl, only clean.

I then spent a couple of days up at the shop getting things caught up before joining Michael to do his room.

As I was making dinner Tuesday night, the nursing home called to say that gramma was having a hard time breathing and they were taking her to the hospital. When she got there, the emergency room doctor called to say it appeared she had experienced a "slight" heart attack, so she was going to be admitted. Later, the doctor on call from the group she see's called to say she understood that gramma was a "no code" and what did I really want done for gramma. I said I wanted her to be comfortable. I had never been asked that before, but I knew what it meant.

Wednesday morning, the doctor said she was not doing very well, but by the afternoon, she had perked up some and had even spent a good part of the day sitting up in a chair. Mom and dad, who had been in St. Louis headed back home so we could make our way to South Dakota to be with her.

Thursday morning, the nurse called about 6:30 to say that gramma had a rough night and was not doing good. I called mom and dad and said we needed to get on the road. After I got off the phone with them, I prayed that God would just let her go quietly at the hospital and not at the nursing home where she lived with Ronnie. The nurse called back about 7 to say that gramma had passed.

Mom, dad and I are now back in South Dakota. We will pick up Ronnie about 8:30 to go to Estelline to make the arrangements.

Mom said when she and Ronnie were little, grampa would turn on the radio and say "let's have a dance" to gramma. Grampa died in 1982. I believe grampa was standing at the gates with bright lights and music playing, holding out his hand said, "Irene, I've been waiting for you, let's have a dance".

South Dakota Day 6

Well, it's coming to an end.

Dad and I hope to be on the road by noon today. We have just a few things left to load into the U-Haul. Today is the first day that we are super sore, just in time for a nice long car ride. As a bonus, it is supposed to be windy today. I'm glad dad's driving the truck pulling the U-Haul.

Things went well yesterday with asking Ronnie to sign the title for the truck and moving his bank account to Lake Norden where he can easily handle his account so he can pay his phone bill.

Ronnie has started to ask about some of his things. It's hard to find comforting answers. At the nursing home, they have so little room for anything. We've given both gramma and Ronnie as many of the things they want as room will allow.

There are some things we have kept and are bringing home with us. However, there are even more things that we've given to good will or have been put in the trash. It has been very emotional looking through things, trying to decide what to keep and what not to keep.

It will be nice to be back home, greeted by hugs and kisses from Sean, Noelle and Michael as well as the happy barks of "welcome home" from Sadie, Hydie and Daisy.

South Dakota Day 5

Just when you think you're done, you're not.

Yesterday was a crazy, productive day.

Once again, the first thing we did was drop off trash. We picked up Ronnie's truck from the mechanic and cleaned it out. While we were doing that, the mechanic showed up to pick up the riding mower as well as a few other things.

Next dad headed to Watertown to pick up a U-Haul...or so he thought. We didn't think to reserve one and I guess a lot of people move over the long weekend. So, dad had to drive about 75 each way to Montevideo, MN. We are now ready to start loading the U-Haul. Hopefully, that will go well.

While dad was off on his adventure, I was at the apartment doing our laundry, sorting and packing. God Bless Nelda!! I couldn't have gotten as much done without her. I thought I had cleaned out all the cabinets in the kitchen, but she found more stuff! We took a large amount of stuff to good will. That really helped with the overwhelming feeling of "what are we going to do with all of this stuff"? I'm going to take other things to a consignment store today.

Say a prayer as today we let Ronnie know that we are bringing the truck back with us. Mom and dad bought the truck a few years ago, so it's not like we're taking "his" truck. Regardless, it's hard either way.

Caleb has continued to win his games and plays at 2 today. Dad and I are taking a break to catch his game and then get back to work.

Well, off to start another busy day.

South Dakota Day 4

Well, yesterday was a very productive day. However, it got a slow start.

Our first stop was to drop off some trash. I had picked up a metal container that was heavy and told dad, "this one's heavy". When he picked it up, it was heavier than he thought and had some oil on it. It slipped and cut his middle finger. We got it cleaned up and found a clinic in Norden for him to get a tetanus shot. All in all that took about an hour out of our day, but we seemed to make it up somehow. We wear gloves when loading and unloading now.

We have the storage building done. The things that are left we are either taking back with us, going to good will or the consignment store. The mechanic that is working on the truck is taking the riding lawn mower, a push mower, and snow "thrower" (still don't understand the difference between that and a "blower"). They all need work, but it's nice we don't have to worry about finding a home for those.

Today, I'm doing our laundry at the apartment complex while I try to work on finishing the apartment. Dad will be in Watertown picking up a U-Haul. We hope to start loading it today.

Hoping for a productive, injury free day!

South Dakota Day 3

We made good progress yesterday on the storage building. Today, we hope to finish it. The bad thing is it stormed here last night. The area where we have to park is unpaved and has no gravel.

Today, we will also drop off Ronnie's truck to have the oil changed, a new battery and find a water leak. Luckily, we are able to get it into the shop that Ronnie used so they kind of "know" the truck.

I've found several treasures including books that belonged to grampa that are in Fin as well as postcards written to his mother dating back to 1909. His mother died not long after he was born in 1918 due to the flu epidemic of that year.

We hope to get an early start today as Caleb has his second game tonight, so pray we have good weather and don't end up too muddy.

South Dakota Day 2

Dad and I made good progress yesterday. Mom's cousin, Nelda, came and helped sort and pack. We still have some to do in the apartment, but for the most part, it's all done.

Today, we plan on picking up Ronnie's truck and working on the storage building. We think we have someone interested in the riding mower and one of the snow blowers. We are going to list the tiller on craigslist.

We watched my cousin, Caleb, play baseball last night in the division II play offs for the college world series. Due to weather delays in North Carolina, the game didn't start until 10. In the end, at 2:30, they won!!! They play again Tuesday night.

Wish us luck as we head out to start another day.

South Dakota Day 1

Well, actually, I'm writing this on the morning of day 2.

Dad and I got here about 12:30 Saturday morning. We woke up about 7:30, ate breakfast and I took a shower. As I was getting ready, I was thinking of what I wanted to say and how I hoped gramma and Ronnie reacted. The more I thought about it, the more my stomach turned. Needless to say, I spent a good part of the morning in the bathroom.

We got to the nursing home about 1 and went to gramma's room. We had a nice visit with her. Ronnie had walked to to C Store so I asked the nurse to give us a room to talk to them in private.

When Ronnie go back, we sat down and things didn't go too bad. A big part of me things Ronnie was in shock and will let us know how is feeling today, but a bigger part of me is hoping that deep down, he knows this is what's best.

Dad got the key for the storage place so we got a look at it. It's not as bad as we had thought. Today, we start packing the apartment.

A couple of side notes:

1. Dad and I are not stopping at ANY BP stations, not even to use the bathroom. That whole situation makes me sick.
2. Dad and I have two different ideas of what to do with a toilet seat. I close the lid, he doesn't. I found this out in the middle of the night when I ended up IN the toilet.

Here's to a good, productive day and a dry bottom.

The Traveling Circus Continues...

however, this time, we didn't even make it out of town!

I honestly think God is trying to tell us to stay out of South Dakota. It seems like every time we go something happens; blown tires, running out of gas, snow storms.

Dad had a seal replaced at the Ford dealer and had the 60k mile warranty check done. As he left his house today, he noticed a spot of oil in the drive way. He got to the shop and had the mechanic put it up in the air. Well, the seal has some sort of an issue and was more than dripping.

As luck would have it, yesterday Sean and I each drove home. I told dad to meet me at the shop so we didn't have two cars at home. Thank heavens I did! Dad would have picked me up at home and we would have been on our way.

We had hoped to be on the road by 10 this morning...it's now 2:30. The Ford dealer is working on getting us a rental car.

Here's hoping this is the biggest obstacle of the trip.

How Do You Thank A Stranger?

As I was driving home from Indiana, I was listening to my iPod. I had it on shuffle, so each song that came on was a surprise.

It was raining and suddenly, "Travelin' Solider" by The Dixie Chicks came on. This is a song that gives me chills every time I hear it.

My dad is a Vietnam Veteran. When I have been in conversations with others regarding that war, I always say that I'm one of the lucky ones, my dad came home.

Back in Austin, Minnesota where my dad grew up, he and a friend of his would clean office's. One they cleaned was the draft office. The woman who worked there one day told him that, she couldn't say anything, but if she were him, she would enlist. My dad took her advice and enlisted. The day he was sworn in, he received his draft notice. He has said that the first thing it said was "greetings from your friends and neighbors".

Some may feel that this woman should have said nothing, however, either way, my dad served. As the mother of a son, I pray that Michael would be as fortunate.

As I listened to the song, I thought of my mom. The communication was not as it is today. There was no internet and you had to wait for mail. My parents had not been married long. My mom and I lived in a trailer in North Dakota when he was in Vietnam. She had no family close to help her. It was just us.

As with a lot of Vietnam Vets, my dad doesn't talk about it. I've heard two stories. One was about how he walked an hour or two to see Bob Hope. He said it rained the whole time he was walking. Bob Hope stepped out and the rain stopped. When it was over it again began to rain and he walked back in the rain. The second was regarding a long night working on air craft. He was in the Air Force and he said they were all so tired it was almost a group effort to put in a screw.

I asked "How Do You Thank A Stranger"? I would love so much to find the woman who, more than likely, would have been reprimanded for what she did. I would tell her thank you for speaking to my dad that day and giving him the chance to decided which armed service he wanted to serve. Who knows where he would have been placed.

I believe, by simply giving him the choice, my dad came home. He came home and I have a beautiful sister. He came home and walked me and my sister down the isle. He came home and plays with his grandchildren. He came home and has spent 41 years with my mom.

He came home.

Fun, Fast Trip

The kids and I had a great time with the Indiana Ehmke's. It went by too fast, but we will be back there in a month for VBS.

We were about three miles from Merlin's when the van started making a noise. We got there to find out that he had gone to Evansville to watch Caleb play ball. Lori got the name and number of a mechanic from church and we dropped the van off.

I was afraid it was the transmission because the noise would start when I drove and stop when I stopped. We were very happy to find out that it was just the right wheel bearings. I don't really know what that means, but it was much cheaper than a transmission.

Merlin and Lori went back to Evansville Sunday to watch Caleb play the last two games in the championship. They won and are on their way to the Division II World Series! They will be playing Merlin's alma mater, Mankato State. When I asked who he would be rooting for, Merlin said, "not my alma mater".

GO CALEB!!!