Farewell, Dad

The world became a little less bright as one of its lights was extinguished last night. After a lengthy stay in hospital, V's father passed away with his family and friends by his bedside.

Mr A. was one of kind. He was warm, friendly, always had a kind word, and could make me laugh. We had a mutual affection for the lottery and we would daydream together about what we'd do with the winnings when we hit it big. As a former mechanic, he would be able to listen while riding in my car and tell me that something wasn't right, and what it was.

I remember one very cold winter day about 10-11 years ago, my BIL was up in Bar.rie about 90 minutes away and his vehicle had broken down. So V, Dad an I were going up to help him out except that my FIL's minivan had no heat. None. This was probably one of the first times I'd spent any real time with him. By the time we got up there we were all frozen. During the ride up I quickly built up a thick skin to the family wit. ;) I had been warned but I came prepared. I think I won him over on that trip by being able to hold my own with him.

For anyone who knew him, he was a huge player of the lottery here, both the scratch tickets and the draws. One of our lotteries is called 649. What is ironic is that my father in law passed away at 6:49pm. So Dad, you had the last laugh. If you get an inside edge on the upcoming numbers, send me a sign. :)

Rest in Peace Dad.
1938-2011

It's July already!?!?!?

Wow, time flies...and if one could say they were having fun it would be okay. It's been eight weeks since I last blogged. I've been reading and occaisionally commenting on other blogs, but I've just not found the time, desire or material to blog....that really sucks.

Anyway, it's July. That means the trip to Vegas for my conference has come and gone (two weeks ago actually) and V and I can start to plan for when we are going to do the final DE FET cycle. I don't want to wait any longer than we have to as I'm not getting any younger. As I said to him the other day, it's a matter of biology. So, I'm really hoping we'll be able to get to it either July or August...hopefully before my birthday in September.

So what's been going on since May 10th? Not a whole helluva lot. Really. So little in fact I can't think of anything specific.

The only thing really going on is my FIL. On June 1st, in the middle of the night, he took a tumble down a flight of stairs. Thankfully V's cousin lives with him as his caregiver and was able to call for an ambulance and get him to the hospital. Some of you already know the details, but out of respect to him and other members of the family I won't go into detail here of his injuries. Suffice it to say, what started out as a fall and some broken bones has become a much more serious situation and we are trying to be optimistic for a postive outcome. Prayers would be welcome.

One thing about tragedy/accident is that it can bring a family together. And if I can say anything positive about this situation it would be that it has brought V and his siblings and mother together and much closer. As I said to him a few weeks ago, it was the first time, in the years that I've known him, that I think I had seen the 5 of them together in one room. I wish the situation could have been different that gathered them together.

So, hug your families, those close to you or call someone you haven't seen in a very long time and just say hello and see that they're okay.