Goodbye to another wonderful lady...

Tucson
This is getting to be a regular "thing" for us lately, and I, for one, would appreciate it if it would stop.  But then again, we are at the age where our friends and relatives of our generation are dying. 

Last night we said goodbye to another wonderful lady.  Shirley Spaid...rest in peace.  Shirley was my cousin Ted's wife.  Shirley, Ted, Al and I have been close in the past 20+ years, traveling together; visiting each other (they live in Colorado) and keeping in touch.  They traveled with us to Alaska in 2003, with the long, long trailer in tow.  Six weeks of "togetherness" in the 5th wheel...and yet we remained close!  Shirley and I had a special bond I felt.  She was so wonderfully talented with her knitting, crocheting, and sewing.   She liked to try new recipes; was fun loving and and so much fun to be with.  Ted said that sometimes you had to "speak Shirley" to understand her, I must have succeeded,. because I never had a problem understanding her. :-)  She was a wonderful mother, sister, grandmother and friend. 

Shirley had a massive stroke on Saturday, March 10.  She went to sleep Friday night and just never woke up.  No suffering, no pain, just went to sleep.  She did it the right way.  They removed life support on Wednesday and she took her final breath last night.  We grieve her death, but rejoice in the fact that she is at peace.  We grieve with her family, but rejoice in the knowledge that they will go on to a new and different life without her, but hold her in their hearts forever and have wonderful memories.  She has left them behind, but new children will come and hear the stories of their great grandmother and what a wonderful woman she was.  Yes, she will be missed greatly, but she lives on in our hearts and memories.  It is sad that she will never get to hold her first great grandchild, which is due in June. 

On another note, our weather has been wonderful the last week...today it is suppose to be 85!  Wait, this is March, right?  Well tomorrow it is suppose to be only 58....I think the got the numbers transposed!  We are going to have a "cool down" as the weather guesser calls it.  I think so...from 85 to 58...I would call that a cool down!  However, I am not complaining, before to long the only "cool down" we will get will be sitting under our air conditioners!

Al continues to do the same.  He has good days and awful days, nothing in-between.  Today we are going on an outing.  He has  been wanting sushi, and has asked several times to go to the "sushi garden" which advertises a lot on TV.  It also has been our favorite sushi place for many years, however, he has forgotten that.  So today we are going to attempt an "outing". 

Until next time, enjoy life, it is the only one you get.

Grands and Greats

Tucson

March 8, 2012
I have just returned from a week vacation in Missouri. See, Missouri is where all my great grand children live. I haven't seen them in over two years, so I had a great desire to go to Missouri. It wouldn't be my normal choice of a winter vacation spot, but, with them there I had no doubt where I wanted to go on my break. Needless to say I had a great time.  My daughter-in-law Beverly carted me from St. Louis where two of my greats live to Kansas City where 3 of them live. And as an added bonus I was able to visit with two of my grand children.  I needed a break.

Granddaughter Sarah and her two girls, Natasha (12)  and Nadia (4) live in the St Louis area; so I got to have a longer visit with them.  Natasha has had some serious health problems the last couple of years, so I really wanted to see her for myself and make sure she was doing well.  Nadia is a hoot!  She is a very lively 4 yr old and I enjoyed every minute with her and her sister.

In Kansas City I visited with grandson David and his 3 girls; Sophie (4) Ada (3)  and Molly (2), and yes, he definitely has his hands full with three little active girls.  I enjoyed just watching them interact with each other as siblings.  They really are good and play well with each other.  I can't wait until he has 3 teenage girls to deal with!  What fun that is going to be...all those hormones....ugh! 

The weather in Missouri was pretty decent...we had some wind, and a couple of cool days, but not bad at all.  We did get to experience a fierce thunder and lightning storm early one morning...the same storm that turned into tornados in Indiana later that day.  No thanks!  I did see the area of the tornado on Good Friday last year in St Louis...too close to the kids for my comfort.  Even after a year you could see the damage.  Give me an earth quake any time over a tornado.  I would prefer neither, but since I am a California girl earthquakes don't scare me like tornados do....just sayin'.

I came back to a cold Tucson last night....it was 42 when I drove up to our house!  What the heck?  It was 80 when I left.  However, weather is to warm up again this weekend....and pretty soon I will be howling about the heat again!

While I was gone Al's caregiver Pat was with him for two days; then he went to La Canada Care Center (where he was while in skilled nursing) for 5 days. Hospice gives me 5 days of respite every 90 days. He is doing amazingly well. He has lost another 6 pounds; which I am sure I have found. He is getting a bit weaker I noticed today or maybe I just noticed it after being gone for a week. But he is eating well and still is able to walk with the assistance of the walker.

He was glad to get home today and the dogs, cat and I were happy to see him home. He is stable and that is all I can ask for at this point in time. Every day is a blessing.