Summary of our Fall/Winter 2014 and Spring 2015

SUMMARY SINCE I DID NOT KEEP UP WITH A BLOG DURING THIS TIME PERIOD:

We had a lot of cloudy, cool, and wet days....not the best weather for us Winter Texans....but the weather was crazy all over the US.  We had a lot of good times with Ed & Marilyn, Mike & Marian, Ginger & Jesse,  & Joyce & Roger.  Visitors during that time was Jan & Eddie, Trent & Teresa, Steve & Cathy and Nancy & Monty.

Bob and I flew home for Christmas; getting there approx Dec 17 and returning on Dec. 29.  On
Dec 27, my family was getting together to celebrate Christmas.  We had plans to get some family pictures also. Dad was not feeling well that day but we managed to get some family pictures taken at their house.  The meal and Christmas celebration was held at the hall at the First Baptist Church.  Mom came, but Dad did not feel up to it.  We had a meal & exchanged gifts.  Dad, later that evening, went to the hospital and was admitted. 

On Dec. 28, we got up and went to visit Dad in the hospital.  He seemed to already be doing better, which was normal for him as he always gets feeling much better after they pump him with steroids and other meds.  We had airline tickets to depart on the next morning, Dec. 29th, to return to Mission TX so we drove on to St. Louis.

We no more that got back home in Mission TX that we got a phone call that Dad had taken a turn for the worse and that they were calling family in. Due to the holiday, we could not catch a flight back until Dec 31st.  We got to St Louis late on the 31st and decided to check in to a motel and drive on to Hannibal early the next morning.   Dad was still alive when we got there.  I sat by his bedside amongst my mother, brothers & sisters, talking to him and holding his hand while he was in a deep sleep or comatose state.  It seemed like it wasn't very long after that (maybe an hour or two) he passed.  He passed on January 1, 2015.  It was very sad but as much as I hated losing my Dad, I was grateful that he did not have to suffer anymore.  He died of congestive heart failure & COPD.  When I came back at Christmas and went to my parents house to see them, I knew, then, that it was not going to be long, because he gave me the longest, tightest hug; as if he was saying goodbye...this will probably be the last time you see me.  He was tired; tired of his declining health and knowing it was not going to get better, just worse.

My brothers and sisters & I helped Mom make funeral arrangements.  Lots of people came to the visitation in spite of the holiday (New Year) and to the funeral.

Bob flew back to Texas after the funeral, and I stayed back to help to help Mom for a couple of weeks afterwards, to help her by writing all the thank you cards, and to help her take care of any business that needed to be taken care of as well as be there for her while she was forced to adjust to no longer having Dad in her life.  It was hard to return back to Mission, being so far away from my family and knowing that I couldn't be there to help Mom and just be there for her in this very hard time.

Long story made short, I returned back on January 15th to Mission TX.  While I was home, unfortunately I missed our dear friend's (Trent & Teresa) visit to the Valley. We continued our workcamping job, and socializing with friends.  We met with several friends at a barbecue joint in the valley for Bob's 59th birthday on Feb 14th (Valentines Day).  My sister, Nancy & her husband, Monty, arrived at Padre Island late on Feb 14th.  The next morning, we met with them in the parking lot on the US side of Progresso, in order to go with them to Progresso, Mexico.  She was going to have some dental work done.  We walked with her to the dentist office, and when she got out she already had her prep work done for caps and bridges, and had a final appointment date set up.  They were staying in a hotel resort on Padre Island and we made plans to get together a few times during their stay' which we did.

We left the Valley on March 15th, and decided to go up the east coast of Texas ....around Port Aransas.  We had reservations for a few days at Gulf Shores RV Resort and really enjoyed our time there.  The ocean was within close walking distance to the RV Resort.  The ocean was beautiful and I fell in love with the resort especially since it was close proximity to the sandy beach and ocean.

On the way home, we also stayed a couple of days in Branson, MO.  It had been 14 years since we had been there last.  The last time we were there was to celebrate our 25th wedding aniversary. Wow....were we shocked of how much it had changed!!!  There was lots of shopping, restaurants and things to do.  We hope to go back to Branson again for a longer stay.

We always stop to visit our daughter, Kelsey, and her boyfriend, Brett, on the way home.  They live in Warrensburg MO.  We parked our "home-on-wheels" in Knob Noster State Park which is a few minutes from Kelsey's.  We stayed there three days; celebrating both of their birthdays at a restaurant of their choice. Kelsey, Bob and I also went to Lee's Summitt one day to visit our niece and take her some tamales from Texas.

Home is just a few hours drive from Kelsey's.   We pulled in to Indian Creek Campground on Thursday, April 2.  We stay here when we are at "home" and we workcamp when we are here.

Friday, we drove in to Monroe City to say Hi and to visit both of our mothers.  On Saturday evening, we went to Chris & Mandi's for a family dinner in celebration of Easter.  My Mom, was sick, so she did not go.

Monday, Daphne took Mom to the local family doctor and she was given meds to take.  On Tuesday,  Bob & I went to Mom's house, to pick up her car to get her brakes fixed.  She was still in bed when we got there complaining of being nauseous everytime she got out of bed.  I figured she had the flu.  In the meantime, my sister, Daphne, called me on my cell phone and told me that she had talked to Mom on the phone just a few minutes before we arrived at Mom's house to ask how she was feeling and in the conversation Mom was speaking about the people downstairs.....a flag went up immediately because there was not any people downstairs in her home.  She said some other off the wall things to my sister.  My sister told me to stay there until she could get to town to evaluate Mom.  Mom was really feeling lousy and looked bad.  Daphne evaluated her to see if she had a stroke; but it didn't appear that she had. She was also running high fever.  Daphne called Mom's family doctor, and he thought that she should be taken to the ER by ambulance.  So, we called the ambulance, and off to the ER we went.  They immediately hooked her up to IV fluids as they thought she might be dehydrated and that could be the cause of being disoriented.  She was later sent home that same day.

We decided that we needed to have someone stay with Mom a her house 24/7 until we were for certain that there is no more disorientation.  We wanted to be sure that the disorientation was not the onset of dementia, sun-downers, or Alzheimer (as she has a older sister that has suffered with Alzheimer for 4 years or more).  Also, she still is not feeling well....so we didn't want to leave her alone until she got better.  I stayed with her a couple of days and other family was scheduled to stay with her through the weekend.

On Sunday, Daphne called me and said that Mom was no better and they decided to take her to the ER at Columbia MO.  She wanted me to ride in the car that was transporting Mom in case Mom started getting nauseous I could help Mom while the driver drove the car. She was seen almost immediately at the ER by a doctor who after hearing what was going on, as well as finding out that she has been running a low-grade fever for over a year, decided to admit her and run some tests.

Long story made short, the pulmonary specialist did a biopsy of the lung on Monday and had to stop the procedure because she went into AFIB; and she passed 2 days later (May 05,2015).  The pulmonary specialist stated that she had a malignancy in her lung but did not get a good enough sample to conclude what type it was.

Year 2015 has not been a good year for my family; our Dad died on January 1, and just a short 5 months and a few days later our Mom passed away.  She was from a family of 13 children and she makes the third one of her siblings to pass since July 2014.

We had Mom's visitation and funeral service, and since one brother and one sister is out of state, we decided while they were back for the funeral to go ahead and divide up the sentimental pictures & items of Mom's and Dad's.

The next several days, I spent most of my time at my parent's house helping out with writing thank you cards, returning dishes, going through pictures, personal papers, and stuff in general, etc. to help out the family & executors (two of my sisters). Knowing that I was only going to be in the area a short time, I knew I needed to help with the huge task that comes after the last parent is deceased.

The grand kids had their last day of school & awards ceremony on Thursday, May 21. That brings us to the present time, as we plan to depart for our vacation with our grandchildren tomorrow morning.