My Dad and Buster

It's been a while since I posted I know. I don't remember if I've said much here on the blog, but my dad got sick right after Christmas with both the flu and pneumonia and it really took a toll on his health. I took a couple of trips to California to help him and my brother out since then. I found out in February that my dad's health was much more compromised than he had let on to any of us in my family. He was put into hospice care at the end of February, mostly to help him avoid having to go to different doctor's appointments. The care came to him. He did well under that care, but he really was housebound due to his health challenges.

I'm writing today to share that my dad passed away on May 20, 2017. He was 86 years old. I am so glad he isn't suffering anymore, but I miss him dearly. I flew back to California the day he passed and stayed for 3 1/2 weeks to work with my brothers to lay him to rest and then to clean out his house and put it on the market. It was a marathon of work, but we got it done and Dad's house sold the first weekend it was on the market.

The service for my dad was pretty neat. My friend, Kelly, and I along with Jessica worked together to put together picture boards filled with pictures we found of my dad and his family throughout his life. My brothers and I found Dad's Boy Scout shirt that he wore when he was a scout that we put out on display. We also found his Eagle card. We found his basic training cap from when he was in the Marines and photos of him when he worked in Alaska in the late 40s. We found copies of the magazine he founded and tried to get going for a couple of years. During the service he received military honors.  We chose two songs to play. Not religious songs, but two that we felt were completely Dad. One was El Paso by Marty Robbins and the other wasn't even a song at all, but a recording of a P38 flying overhead at an airshow. He would play that recording whenever someone new came to the house and they would go outside to see the plane that was flying so low. He got such a kick out of that. He got Steve a few times with that recording.

After the service we took his ashes and my mom's ashes that he kept all these years (she passed in 1994) to the Riverside National Cemetery where they were interred together. It's a beautiful cemetery and I know they will both rest comfortably there.

I've been home a few weeks now and trying to adjust to my new normal. Every day I think, I've gotta call Dad and share what's going on. Gah.

We had Amy's 16th birthday party last weekend. A low key affair, but she had a great time spending time with her friends and playing a few games. She made an angel food cake and loved every bite of it.

Then on Tuesday of this past week our sweet dog, Buster, had some sort of seizure or stroke and we had to put him to sleep. He was 13.  Boy do we miss him, too! The girls say he is playing with Grandpa now.

This is Buster a few months after we brought him home from the shelter. He was such a sweet boy.

So life has been challenging so far this year. I'm doing okay. I've been working on cleaning up and purging a bit. My dad was a pretty good packrat and the lesson was not lost on me to pare down. I've been working on some cross stitch and working on some cards when I can and feel like some card therapy. I hope as time goes on, I will be able to do a bit more in the crafty department.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate the visit. I hope this helps you understand partly why I've not been posting much at all this year. 

Hugs,

Jeanne