Good morning and Happy New Year! Ready or not, it's here. I'm not quite ready, since I have not formally written out all my goals, etc. I have them scratched out on paper, so that counts, I suppose. I'll give you a blog version sometime this week. Today is my last day of "vacation mode." Kedra and Ben go back to school tomorrow, so today I want to hang around them as much as I can.
Last week was somewhat relaxing, but death reared its ugly head in a big way. I had a funeral on Thursday, followed by a meal in our gym. Then on Friday I got a message early that Gerald T. had died. It was too early to call the family, so I had breakfast in Bloomington with Pat A. After that I went to see my neighbor Roger. I found him in pretty bad shape. We were able to communicate barely. He signalled to me that he was feeling really bad. I left him and called his brother, telling him that I thought Roger would not make it much longer.
From the hospital I went to Gerald T's house and spent some time with Alex and other family members. Gerald was taking an early (Thursday) evening nap, after a long, fun day, and simply died in his sleep. He had lots of health issues, but his death was totally unexpected--the hardest kind for those left behind. We talked about his funeral and where to have it. A couple hours later, we were talking of using our church buildings, and that's how it settled out.
I went home Friday afternoon and did a few things. Then 3 p.m. rolled around. This was the time that Bill D. and I had set for a 30 mile bike ride. The forecast had been for 54, sunny, and windy. It turned out to be cloudy, 49, and windy with a hint of moisture in the air. Big difference. But I have a new bike, and I wanted to ride. Bill did too, so we took off. It really wasn't bad at all. I love the new bike! It's so much more comfortable and I feel faster on it. We'll see if I really am, as the spring and summer arrive.
Following the bike ride, the plans to use our buildings for Gerald's visitation and funeral were finalized. Then I got a call from Roger's brother saying that Roger was really bad. "Maybe you can go up there," his brother said, from St. Louis. I called the hospital and talked to the nurse. I've been called in too many times when death was not that imminent, so I asked her point blank about the timing, knowing that death is very imprecise. She gave me a refreshingly straight answer. "You won't make it before he dies." Since we were having a family dinner, with Kedra's parents from Alabama, I didn't go. The nurse was right - I would not have made it. Roger's death has affected Kedra and I quite a bit, and I talk more about that at another time, perhaps.
On a more cheerful note, Saturday was a good day! Tim Galloway needed 5 miles to reach his 50,000th running mile. Several of us did some of it with him, followed by a nice celebratory breakfast at Golden Corral. It was very nice. He's a good man and an amazing runner. Lester and I started early and then did a few more after Tim's 5. We ended up with 13, which made a 40 mile week for me.
OK, this is too long. Maybe more later...
No comments:
Post a Comment