November 30, 2006
Dear Everyone:
Well, it was a tough five days, but we got through it. That’s what families do.
It was longer for “Frankie”, of course.
She flew out to
That plan changed when “Jeannie’s” and my flight was delayed almost 90 minutes, which would have left “Marshall” stuck in the airport for hours. Instead, because I had checked online and learned of the flight delay early enough, I was able to warn “Marshall” and he made other plans. And, because we had extra time to get to the airport, “Jeannie” had the brilliant idea to have sandwiches made at a deli to take with us. Southwest Airlines maintains their popular low prices by not serving more than crackers and soft drinks on their flights.
When we reached the
The worst case, for us, was “Frankie’s” older
daughter, “Rosa”. She left
Thursday was spent preparing for the service on Friday. I spent a great deal of time wrestling with an ancient computer in the Library. (I couldn’t use the slightly newer ones in the Computer Room because the residents were using them all.) “Frankie” had asked me to compose the bulletin, patterned after the one that had been used for “Anne Cassidy’s” service, but with changes.
I thought I had really lost my typing skills when I
tried to key in the
Prayer
for Peace by
St Francis of
In due time, “Frankie” and I finished proofing the bulletin and I was able to email it to our nephew, “Gerald”, who took care of printing them with the same picture of Mother that “Jeannie” had found to use for the obituaries. He did a splendid job, as did everyone each in their own way.
I won’t go into a lot of detail about the Christian Mass of Burial or the internment, except to say that everything went well. Afterward, we all settled together in “Jeannie” and “Alice’s” suite at the Lakeshore Inn and ate pizza.
On Saturday it was time to clear out Mother’s apartment. “Frankie” and “Suzanne”, Mother’s caregiver, had already taken care of a lot, including the clothes. By the time I got there (I had volunteered to do some more computer work for “Frankie”), the kitchen was cleared out and boxes filled the hallway outside the apartment, waiting for the charity driver to come and take things away.
We each started out with a box. If there was something you wanted to keep, you just put it in your box. There were only a few items that I cared enough about to place in my box. Some other things found their way in when someone else decided that I should have them.
“Jeannie’s” box quickly overflowed and my box
became part of her shipment.
She wanted the antique pet carrier from the days of steamer ships, which
Mother used as an end table, and the French Desk.
“Alice” took the bed and dressers (she has lots of room at her
house in
In the end, we had everything positioned around the apartment with labels on them to indicate what would go to whom. Our nephew, “Gerald”, is taking care of hiring movers to pack up everything and ship them all to their destinations. The money left in Mother’s account will pay the shipping costs.
On Sunday, everyone who hadn’t left yet made their way to the airport at one time or another. “Jeannie” and I got back in the afternoon. I was very glad that I had vacation time scheduled for Thanksgiving week and didn’t have to go back to the office just yet.
So it was Monday morning when I discovered that my clothes dryer, which was working when we left Wednesday, would not start. On the plus side, I could be home for the repair person.
Love, as always,
Pete
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