Recovery Progress: 2022

Friday, December 30, 2022

Memories of Dad

This last week has been a total whirlwind! Wednesday afternoon I got the call that my dad had been given 2 weeks to live so I packed and left Thursday morning to go see him. He was somewhat cognitive at that point but when I got there Thursday he'd been out of it all day. We thought he'd just overdone it Wednesday but that wasn't the case.. He was a tad responsive on Saturday and not at all Sunday. I stopped to see him Monday morning before heading home to gather some pictures and get some things taken care of. However God had other plans and took my dad home when I was almost halfway home. They contacted me just before I hit the long stretch of no cell service so was able turned around and headed back before I was really into the trip. Tuesday and Wednesday were long days of trying to get everything in place for his service on Thursday afternoon. Luckily my brother and I had dropped by the funeral on place on Friday to get everything in place that we could so that side was taken care of for the most part.

I will insert here that Cascade Cremation & Burial is an awesome place to work with. They were absolutely wonderful and I highly recommend them. The place my dad had prepaid with went into bankruptcy and they are helping those that are effected by that. They made it possible for Christina to be able to see the funeral from England.

The service was awesome and once again my cousins Ed and Sally stepped in and helped out. It was so good to see everyone that had helped my dad out over the years. They are a special group of people! The care home (Comfort Care) that he was in is pretty awesome as well. They truly care for those that are in their home.

One thing that was for sure with my dad was his love for his Father. He loved going to church meetings and the potlucks! There was the normal struggles that come with life and sometimes we would get super frustrated with him. But when all was said and done we knew that he loved us all. There's all kinds of little memories that come to mind. One was when he was painting the house in Grants Pass. Not sure why it sticks with me but I can just picture him on the ladder paint brush in hand. Then him preparing the garden each Spring. Him helping my mom with her store. He did a lot of the running around for her. So many precious memories.

The pictures below are the ones that I was able to pull from his stash as well as a few from others since I wasn't able to get home and pull any. These were the ones that were on the picture boards that I did for his funeral.

Front of funeral leaflet

At the cemetery- I believe this is the area he'll be buried in.

Enjoying the view while resting!

One of my favorites- This was taken at the Oregon zoo

Nap time with Rex!

Rex loved my dad

And my dad loved Rex!

Dad and Teagan

Dad and Avery

Erika and dad

At the zoo with Erika and her girls

Family picture from early on!

Wedding picture- Hard to believe they're both gone now!

Dad was a pretty adorable kid! :)

One of the few professional pictures that we had taken as a family!

Allen was overseas in the Navy so wasn't here for this one. Three are now gone. :(

From a few years ago. My dad is on the far right.

My dad, his grandpa (104 here I believe!) and his mom. All are now gone.

I'm missing from this one since I was working.

My dad and his mom

Uncle Claude, my dad, and my mom's mom

Allen and his boys with dad and mom

Friday, August 12, 2022

Ponderings

I typically don't do updates this quick anymore but, truth be told, I'm really struggling this week and today seems to have hit a peak. I've been helping an old friend through the struggle of a husband saying he doesn't want to stay anymore. Doesn't want to help her through some major health struggles. As in my case, there's been a LOT happening this year that are big things. Life changing things that one can do nothing about, but it seems to trigger something that says "I never thought I'd be here in life and I can't handle it" attitude. And then they run. I can assure her it gets a whole lot better over time but there are still those days that you really, really miss them regardless of the circumstance. And that's okay! It's part of the process. There will always be those days. I just came on to write it out because that helps me deal with it and hopefully will help other's know that it's completely normal feeling no matter the situation that happened. For me, my Father, has been my stronghold. There's strength and there's comfort and I will be forever grateful for that. And I'll add a couple of pictures just because. I've always loved taking pictures of insects etc within my garden.

Milkweed beetle- never knew there was such a thing until yesterday!

There's so many dragonflies in my yard this year! LOVE them!!

A sleeping bee! I went back later and he'd tucked his legs back in but was totally sprawled out here!

Sunday, July 10, 2022

Mid-year update/Sis passing

This year has been quite the year! So much has happened and changed. I took my Aunt Nancy down to Oklahoma the end of February. That was one long trip! 18 hours each way with a night spent just north of Denver each way. I can now say I've been through Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma! She's now at Red Bud Canyon. All but one of those that live there have been in the ministry so she's in very good company and seems to adapting very well! I went to see Erika and her family in mid May and while I was there got word my sister wasn't doing very well at all. She's been in a lot of pain most of her life but she started getting pancreatitis the end of last year and by the first of June they said they'd done all they could and she chose to go on hospice. I went over to see her the first week of June as was so very thankful I didn't wait! The first of this month (July) the pain got to where even the pain killer above morphine wasn't touching it and they sedated her. She passed away a week ago. During that time there were several others that passed away. My Aunt Kelita's mother-in-law passed away the end of May. I knew her fairly well from my years in Portland. An elderly man in our meeting here in Rupert passed away that same week as well. And we lost one of our ministers to a heart attack when he was headed to Portland from Parma. They found him in his motel room. It's very possible he wasn't feeling well and thought he had covid so stopped. This last month and a half has been crazy with how many people died that I knew! My sisters funeral will be next week in K-Falls at the grange on Shasta Way. I'm really hoping that does it for the year! My dad is doing okay but is feeling down. Which is totally normal. My sister was the youngest of us. She was 9 years younger then me. She left her husband (Don) behind, my dad and 3 siblings.

It was wonderful to visit Erika and her family! The grandkids sure are growing up!!! Teagan is now 10, Scarlet will be 9 the end of September, Jameson is 2 1/2 and Greyson turned one the first part of May! Teagan and Scarlet love their gymnastics! They both compete now. Jameson so kind of a terror depending on the day. LOL! You can just see the mischief in his eyes. Greyson is a lot more laid back but I think Jameson is doing a good job in teaching him! ;) I got a few pictures from my visit that I'll post below. Erika sure has her hands full! She also helped with union negotiations this year. Where she fit that in amongst everything else, I'm not sure! Nick has been awesome with the kids and just an all around really good guy!

Christina is now in the UK. She seems to be doing pretty well in the Airforce. I really do think it's been good for her. Here's hoping that I can get over there in the next couple of years! She's there for 3 years. I'll post a picture below that she sent me. Her and a couple of friends took a trip to London and that's where the picture was taken.

Now on to the garden! With everything that's been going on and the weather not cooperating at all this Spring, it's been a long planting season! I started seeds the first of May in my greenhouse side of the shed. I asked my contractor to insulate that side so I could start seeds sooner! It worked really, really well but I'm still planting them! Our last frost date was June 13th. That week I headed to Parma for a few days so didn't get anything done. Before that only the frost hardy stuff was in the garden. The following week wasn't bad but then it went to hot. The poor plants. Most seem to be making it but I'm not going to get very many blooms for at least a couple of weeks. Here's hoping for a warmer Fall! Everything that's growing right now has either been direct sowed, self sowed from what I let go to seed last Fall, or started from seed. Peppers, tomatoes (found my first baby tomato last night) and eggplant were started from seed. Potatoes, beans, squash, peas, some carrots and cucumbers were direct sowed. Onions, most carrots, leeks, lettuce and some tomatoes self sowed. I let a few of the self sowed tomatoes stay since they are typically cherry tomatoes and I didn't start any of those from seed. Petunias, dianthus, carnations, snapdragons, cleome, salvia, dahlias, lemon bee balm, asters (annual), alyssum, lobelia, red bachelor buttons, cosmos and mexican marigolds were all started from seed in the greenhouse. Marigolds, calendula, alyssum, salvia (both annual and perennial), petunias (purple) and a few I have no clue the name of self sowed. I no longer start/buy marigolds. Actually this year the only plants I bought were petunias when they were on sale at Freddies in mid May. I had no clue just how well the seed would do at that time! Now bush type plants are another matter! :) There's a guy that comes from Western Oregon and hauls plants over. I got blueberry bushes, currents, gobi berry and lingonberry's from him. Then one of the seed companies advertised cold hardy figs! They're supposed to be good down to zone 5 and I'm borderline 5b/6a so 2 for $20 seem like a good deal to try them! And then I got an elderberry from the nursery in town. Hopefully they all do well and come back next year! I also have gooseberries (just starting to ripen), honeyberries, raspberries (just starting to ripen) and strawberries that have produced this year! I got my first asparagus pick this year! Not a lot was picked this year but with the cooler weather it sure made for some yummy eating straight from the garden! At the moment the lawn is in desperate, desperate need of a mow. The mower has been in the shop for 2 weeks and it was a week before that when it got mowed. The supply chain issue has happened with the part that it needs. I do believe my neighbors will be being asked if I can borrow a mower! This next week after Monday is supposed to be upper 90's for the most part.

Seed Starting!- This method works very well outside if you get them planted soon enough! (By February/March)

Strawberries that I sold!

New flower bed. There's Iris's, dahlia's, snapdragons and carnations here now.

The end of April gave quite a rainstorm!

Scarlet & Greyson

Jameson

Greyson- Teagan took the picture and did an awesome job!

Erika, Teagan and Scarlet

My sisters namesake in Portland. I'm glad I finally got the picture taken and sent to her!

Grew quite well! The milk jug makes for a mini greenhouse!

Transplanting starts!

Christina in London!

Let the hardening off process start!

Gorgeous Iris's!

More transplanting!

Got stopped due to construction coming back from seeing my sister.

Self sowed lettuce

Self sowed calendulas- also beans planted in the bare dirt area. That whole area was full of calendulas. Went with having just an edge of them. (growth update further down)