4/1-4/5/2013 So Much To Do!

(Wilmington, DE)

Monday morning we hit the floor running.

There is much to do this week.  The cemetery needs more paperwork, pension papers have to be dealt with, insurance papers have to be filed, accounts closed, accounts changed to my mom’s name only, dozens of phone calls and dozens of forms to be filled out.

In between all this we’re trying to get thank you notes written and getting this house put back together.

I’m encouraging her to clean out and get rid of stuff. It isn’t taking much persuasion.  I never realized what a pack rat my dad was.  We found eleven pairs of glasses he didn’t wear anymore.  Why he held on to them is beyond me.  Some had the glass missing, some had one ear piece missing, it was beyond baffling.  All that stuff has been cleaned out now.  We donated the glasses and frames to the local Lion’s club.  Someone who wouldn’t otherwise have glasses may now.

We dropped all the clothing off to the Veteran’s Hospital Community Living Center.  They were most appreciative of the donation.

My mom is great for displaying pictures in frames.  She kept adding to the collection over the years so we gathered them all up in one place and will pare that pile down considerably.  She still had my high school graduation picture on the wall.  I graduated 43 years ago!  It’s time for it to be put away, wouldn’t you agree?

She gave me my baby book and the album of pictures of my first year.  I keep looking at the one of my 20 year old dad holding a three week old me.

I miss him.  As busy as we are I’m well aware of his absence.

Bob and I talk everyday on the phone.  He’s in Arizona and the dealership doing our warranty work is very slow.  We totally understand them putting the ones who are paying cash for their services ahead of us but its getting to the point of ridiculous now.  There isn’t anything we can do, we’re at their mercy.

Bob has been busy dressing all the wood in our 5th wheel and believe me, there’s a lot of it!  He says he can’t wait for me to see it.

The community in the parking lot, where our home spends the majority of the time, is growing.  Bob has made friends with others and Happy Hour is now an everyday occurrence for the group.

Its getting hot now in Arizona.  Bob says the air conditioner runs non-stop.
I’ve talked with several of our friends still in Quail Run and I’m told the place is all but empty.  This certainly didn’t turn out to be the three months we wanted to spend in there.  They’ll be gone by the time we get back there.

Time is going much too fast for me.  We have so much to do and the time is going to come that Bob is going to start on me to come home.  He hasn’t said anything as yet, its only been two and half weeks since I left, but I know he must be missing me….or at least my cooking….or maybe not.

It hasn’t been all work this week.  One evening our cousin Kathy came to take us out to dinner.  We really needed that night out.  We laughed, a lot.  We reminded each other of family stories long forgotten.  Mom and I needed this so much.

Neither one of us is much liking this new normal.  We would give anything to turn back the hands of time.  Then reality sets in and we are once again reminded that death is very much a part of living.

Did I tell you I miss my dad?