First of all, on 10/19 they moved Dad into hospice. He was still in the same wing of the hosptial, just on a different floor. He had a nice room all to himself with a lovely view of the first floor roof. Their whole mission there was to keep him comfortable. We stopped in to see him that first day and he was wide awake and even laughed at Angel telling about her birthday party.
I was at work this past Thursday and I suddenly had the idea that we needed to go get Bo and bring him down to see Dad. I made sure I could ship Angel off to Laurie's for the weekend and made sure it was OK with Mom before I called Bo. She was very appreciative that we thought of him. Funny part is, Randy had the same idea.
We took a nice Saturday drive up there to get him. Off & on sprinkles, but it was nice. Bo was happy that I asked if he had any laundry that needed to be done. He packed up a big garbage bag full for me to wash and Randy took him home Sunday night.
It's a good thing we did. Angel and I stopped by Monday, the 26th and found Mom in tears. The doc had told her that his blood pressure was dropping and he was shutting down. We got the call Tuesday morning that Dad had passed on.
This is what gets me. I'm fine right now, even after typing those awful words. Tuesday was hard. I told Angel the news and she gave me a hug and patted my back, but was OK to go to school. We called and let the school know, in case it hit her later on. But she was fine, too. We went up to the hospital, he was still in his room and they were supposed to shoo us out and do what they needed to do at 8:30. They didn't come in until about 10:30. So we basically sat around in the dark room with Dad for a while, shed a lot of tears, etc. He went easily, so I couldn't ask for any more than that. In fact I prayed that God would make the inevitable painless. He looked so peaceful, I kept expecting to hear a big snore out of him. Understandably, Mom was/is devastated. We took her home and got her to nap for a couple hours while we got all the arrangements settled. I'm glad that Laurie made all the phone calls to family. I sure didn't want to do that. She didn't have to make as many as I thought. She only had to call select people and they'd pass on the info to their families, etc.
Yesterday all we had to do was make a trip out to the cemetery - which is about 2 1/2 miles from my house - to meet with the counselor there and he filled out necessary paperwork, then took us to see the crypt and the chapel. Ever since I was little, Dad said he didn't want anyone peeing on his grave, so he's being interred in a mausoleum. The best way I could describe this is a file drawer. They'll open it and slide Dad in feet first. When it's Mom's turn, she'll go in head first in the same drawer. But he's on the 4th level, so you always have to look up to him. Mom had a hard time, she couldn't handle being in the counselor's office, so Laurie took her out and he talked to Linda, Terry & I. But we basically made sure that everything will be going smoothly on Friday. I'll have to go back on Tuesday to finalize everything, whatever that entails.
Visitation is this afternoon from 2-9. I'll be fine until: a) I see Dad in the casket, b) I see Mom crying again, and c) someone comes up to me for a hug with tears in their eyes. Randy stopped by the funeral home yesterday, he offered to pay for the funeral until Mom is able to take care of banking, etc. He just thought that she wasn't in the frame of mind to deal with a bank. He paid them and they told him that Dad was already dressed and basically ready, so he asked to see him. Dad had such thin skin that his hands were all messed up so the funeral home had to put his hands down to his side, instead of crossing them on his stomach like usual. But he said that he looked nice and natural, so that will help a lot.
I have to have a gripe moment. I love my sisters, but I really can't stand being around them for great lengths of time. Their quirks & pettiness are enough to drive anyone insane. Laurie is the worst. She's a paranoid, distrustful bitch. No wonder she never got married. Laurie apparently talked Mom & Dad into buying Lisa a new computer because Lisa screwed their old one up and of course Lisa probably told Laurie that Randy messed it up. Randy did nothing to that computer without permission. Most likely Lisa was trying to get online after the parental controls had her login locked. He even installed a program that would record all of the sites she was going on - per their request. Didn't help any. Lisa is such a sneaky little brat and gets away with WAY too much. She's not supposed to be on Facebook, but we saw her logging in. I searched for her and didn't find her name, so she's obviously not looking to connect with friends, since they'd look for her real name. She has the makings of a first class slut. Mom & Dad made a trust with all of the final info and Laurie was practically trying to hide the pages from me when we were looking for funeral home info. Don't worry honey. Mom has told me more than once that I am executor to their estate. I'm the only one they could trust to make sure their wished were followed out how they want. I could easily see Laurie & Linda both trying to screw Bo out of his share, since the both have issues with him. Laurie won't let him stay at her house, when her's is the most logical - she's got all sorts of room. After all the hours of work he did around that place for her and she repays him this way. She's so paranoid that he's going to "rob her blind". OK, he was in jail for not paying child support, not robbery! He's not automatically a criminal because he's been in jail! That must be what she does at night, since she's not getting laid, lay in bed and think of horrible things. Sheesh. Get a dildo. I really am not sure what Linda's beef is. She won't even talk to him and said there was no way in hell he was staying at her house. I think she has a bug up her butt about the fact that he's staying at the farm and not paying for anything. First of all - why does she care? It's not her property. Since being in jail and being up there, there's no work close by! At least the house is occupied instead of standing empty, waiting for someone to break in! Last night, Bo had called with what was going on with him. We thought he was going to get a ride down with Marshall, who's a close friend of Mom & Dad's and their neighbor. Come to find out, Marshall isn't coming down until later this afternoon. Laurie told him he was just going to have to wait until then. I heard her say that and I said No. We will go get him and make sure he's there with us for Dad. Then Lisa wandered in, she must have heard he was on the phone and asked when her dad was coming down. Linda (Ms Insensitive Bitch) snapped at Lisa and said her dad was being laid to rest, there was a ceremony for that. It took a minute for that to sink in before I realized exactly what she said. I was shocked! Bo is still her Dad and I'm sure she still loves him, even if Mom & Dad adopted her! Lisa started to cry and I hope Linda felt like an ass! She might not act like a kid, but she is still only 14! I grabbed Lisa and hugged her and told her not to worry. We will make sure Bo is there for the entire visitation. Terry pulled her onto his lap and held her for a while, too. I really hope that I am never such a saint that I feel I have the right to judge people.
Whew, I feel better after getting that off my chest!
So right now, Angel is still sleeping, I'll wake her little butt up soon. Randy left at about 6:30 this morning to get Bo. I just checked the tracker and they're at about Birch Run, so another 45 minutes to an hour and they'll be here. I think Randy may have to take him to the Salvation Army so he can get a suit, I noticed Bo is getting chubby! He admitted it himself anyway - LOL.
Here's my parting shot. I yelled at Chester a few times early this morning for causing a ruckus and I thought he was attacking one of the other cats, but I didn't hear the normal yelling, only growling. That's not normal, so I flipped on the bathroom light to see what was up and Chester was the bathroom with a mouse hanging out of his mouth! He usually catches one each fall and proudly leaves it on the floor right outside the bathroom door, so we have to see it. Of course we make a big deal out of him and give him lots of praise. He's good because we've never seen any evidence of mice in the house!
