Driving Eastward..

  Renee ⋅ August 24, 2008 7:19 pm ⋅ 8 comments

EDIT: Ok, this is really just going to seem like the most depressing thing ever, but my dog passed away while we were gone. It sounds like stuff couldn’t go any worse, but it was really time for him. I had had him since I was 3-years-old and he was approaching 19-years-old. He was in good health, but it was still like it was time for him to go but he didn’t wanna check out. He went in his sleep though. Weird thing is, before my grandpa got really sick, we joked that he couldn’t go before J.R. did and they just seemed to pass together. Maybe somewhere, my grandpa has a pup with him. /EDIT

I’m on my way home now.

My grandfather passed away Friday, August 22nd at 5:24PM.

Everyone is doing okay. It was a difficult good-bye, but one full of closure and he passed with all of his family with him and letting him hear his favorite Frank Sinatra songs.

I’ll be returning in 2 weeks because his wished to be cremated and for us to have a celebration of his life and to sit around talking about the things we loved about him and all the silly things he would do.

I’ll miss him so much, but I’m happy I had one of the greatest and classiest men I’ve ever met in my life. One of eight children, his parents moved to New Orleans from Sicily right before he was born. He grew up to go onto joining the Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard and served in the Korean War. Also, I say it takes a real man to be a father, but an even bigger man to be the father to another man’s children. After my mom’s father passed when she was a kid, my grandparents married and brought the happiness of a husband and father to my grandmother and my mom/uncle. I couldn’t be more thankful for that alone, but he truly was the greatest man I’ve ever known in my entire life.

Random

Current Location: Somewhere On I-10 W

  Renee ⋅ August 22, 2008 2:48 am ⋅ 5 comments

We finally ended up leaving tonight (last night) around 11:30PM. Bryan got off work and we just drove through Tropical Storm “Fuck Florida” Fay.

I don’t mind tropical storms and/or hurricanes. It kind of comes with the territory of living the first 10 years of your like in New Orleans and then moving to the state that sticks out like a magnet to any storm that developes in the Atlantic. This has been ridiculous though. It hasn’t even been powerful enough to justify shutting down schools, stores, etc. for the week. No.. It was just three days of non-stop rain and wind. So if you had to go to the bank or grocery, as I did, you were getting soaked. Not smoking for this cancer stick baby, soaked jean bottom, frizzy hair.. The whole shebang! Which is why Florida is flooding and has gators roaming streets and fishes on airport runways. Ok, that’s a funny visual, but totally a pain in the ass. Lets just sit stationary and then speed up to a whopping 2mph. When I last looked before I left, my pool was on the verge of overflowing. Do not want.

Sorry for leaving everyone hanging during the week. I was stressed trying to get home through the storm. I’m sure you can tell from that sentence, things got worse. A lot worse. He had ups and downs during the week, but yesterday my dad called me and said he was basically holding on for me to get there. He’s currently unable to communicate, but my mom called earlier and held the phone up to him for me. He can hear and understand everything, but they don’t think he’ll make it past today. I tried to leave as soon as possible and get there as fast as possible. I’m going straight to the hospital to hopefully see him one last time, but my mom said he may not make it through the night. She let me talk to him and I got to tell him how much I love him and told him I was on my way. Everytime I think of him not being with us anymore, I break down. You always know that your grandparents, parents, etc., will pss before you, but when it actually happens… you feel as though you took so many moments for granted and wish you would of told them you loved them more. I can only hope to say good-bye, but at least I got to tell him how much I love him. My mom also said he moved and responded when I talked to him. Hopefully he goes peacefully and knows I’ll always love him and be grateful for having one of the greatest men I’ve ever known in my life.

personal

Spidey Girrrl, Spidey Girl!

  Renee ⋅ August 18, 2008 3:05 am ⋅ 6 comments

Hahaha.. I can’t even be bummed about injuries I get because they’re so weird/abnormal/embarrassing that its just funny to me. Like in April when I got my little foot injury and it looked like a hoagie. Well this time I apparently got bit on my jaw by a spider. I didn’t pay much attention to it first, but now its infected and I look like a chipmunk.

Hehehe, seriously… Who has these things happen? Bryan keeps saying I look like the Nutty Professor in a fat suit and like I’m storing little doughnuts in my cheeks for Winter. Yes, doughnuts. Haha, before we started dating I was eating munchkins and talking to him and burst out with, “Oh no! One rolled away!” Pointless story, but informative as to why he keeps saying that. Anyway, back to my half fat face, my mom keeps teasing me that I look like John McCain and called me “Alvin” all day. Hahaha, it hurts so bad, but I can’t help make fun of myself. I still have antibiotics from my hoagie foot, so I’m A-OK. I think.. Hehehe. We’ll see how it is tomorrow. If its not any better, I’ll go see my doctor. Haha..

Also, I have to drive back to New Orleans this week. That hurricane [and chub face] better be gone by the time its time for us to leave. Depending on what days Bryan gets off work, we’re either leaving Wednesday night or Thursday night. He gets to meet the whole family, plus its my nephews birthday.

Also, I need to go see my grandfather. His health improved for a bit, but now he’s doing worse. It all started after he got pneumonia when my family went to visit relatives in California. That evidently caused him to develop a chronic lung disease. He was ok and sounded relatively good when I spoke to him last, but he’s currently in the ICU and last I heard on 100% oxygen. He’s developed cystic fibrosis, has a bleeding ulcer, and fell out of the bed the recently having difficulty breathing and fractured a vertebrae in his back. Its not looking so great, so I really need to get home as soon as possible in order to see him. I can only hope for the best, but it doesn’t seem like he has the will to keep going. Lets hope.

Tags: health, louisiana, New Orleans, personal

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