Here Comes The Sun
Monday, January 23rd, 2023 10:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioYesterday was when Sheila left town, back for LA. I hung with Colleen in their hotel room for a few hours. I'd run to pick up her prescriptions and grab some food that we ate.
Colleen chilled in the hotel room the rest of last night, while back at home, Veda, Frank, Wendy, Jo, and Emberly hung out with Tim and I at the house.
They were going through Grampa & Grandma's stuff to find things they might want to take back home. Some things could be taken on the plane tomorrow. Other things were set aside for Tim to bring back later.
It broke up relatively early, because Frank & Wendy's early flight would require Tim to be up by 8AM, in order to drive them to Midway on time, in Dad's car.
------------{=0=}------------
This morning, a few minutes before his alarm was to go off, Tim was woken to the sound of a music box, in his room, playing, Joy To the World.
Grandma had a collection of angel figurines, some of which were wind up music boxes, and Emberly had taken a shine to one. Wendy liked it and wanted to take it home, but they couldn't fit it into their bags, so Tim had set it aside, in his bedroom.
They had wound it up and played it last night, but, it had stopped, long before they'd gone back to their Air B&B.
Now, this morning, all by itself, The golden Christmas Angel began playing Joy To the World at 7:33AM... and played the entire song through!
Tim woke to it right away, because of the high pitch of the music, and immediately knew that this was Mom!
She was not only waking Tim up to be on time for the airport, but... the song itself struck Tim as being a message that Dad was with her, and they were joyfully celebrating.
------------{=0=}------------
I wasn't on my feet until noon. Nobody was home when I got downstairs to walk Yvette.
After another one of our long, lingering walks in the cold, we settled down in the kitchen and I called Tim.
He was just on his way back to the house, with Veda, Joe, and Emberly.
The way they'd had to work it out today, Frank & Wendy took a flight early in the morning, but Veda, Joe & Emberly had a different flight for later in the afternoon.
Thus, Tim had to pick up Frank & Wendy early, drive them out to Midway... then come back to get Veda, Joe & Emberly, and drive them out to Midway again a second time!
Right now, he'd just gotten them from their Air B&B in Yorkville, and were coming back to the house to say goodbye to me, before I had to go to work.
--<>--
Tim was in a great mood, when they got into the house! It was the first sunny day since he's been in Illinois, he'd had that miraculous wake up call from Mom this morning, and, since he'd taken the scenic back roads to the airport and back... he was just kinda stoked about driving through the wooded darios, and rolling meadows of the countryside.
While they had time to hang in the kitchen, we called Colleen, who was just about to get into her shuttle to O'Hare.
Colleen left... and soon after, So did Tim, Joe, Veda & Emberly.
I found myself in the kitchen with just Yvette and the cats... enjoying a peace & quiet I haven't heard since back in mid-December.
But this time around... there were no nagging worries about Dad, in the rehab center. And the cat's were downstairs!.. getting along with the dog!
--<>--
I too enjoyed seeing blue sky, on the drive to work, for the first time in weeks!
And when I got to Grape, I realized it was the first time, in over six years, that I had clocked in for a day of work, without a nagging worry about Dad, alone back at home.
--<>--
Half way through my shift, Tony, the supervisor who had happened to be in the building last Tuesday when Dad died, and who told me not to worry and take the rest of the week off... found me again in the same hallway.
He let me know that HIS dad, had ALSO died, on FRIDAY!
It was quite a bizarre coincidence!
Now TONY was taking the rest of the week off, but he let me know that last Tuesday, he'd punched me out at 7PM.
This meant I got credit for being at work all day on Tuesday, which was critical, because Monday had been a paid holiday... and we don't get paid for holidays unless we work the last workday before, and first workday after, they occur.
Thus, I was paid for Martin Luther King Day, and I was also paid for the next day, Tuesday.
And then, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, were paid bereavement days!
So... I got paid for the entire week last week!
--<>--
The fact that Tony will be gone the rest of this week, I took, as a sign that I don't need to bother with ramping up to full-time right away... since he's the guy who'd have to get that in motion.
So, I'm just gonna enjoy going about my business at Grape Elementary as usual this week, and we'll see where we are next week.
------------{=0=}------------
When I got back home tonight, Tim had been back for a while, and told me that Wendy and Frank were already back in Las Vegas!
He was still in a great mood, and after I took Yvette for her night walk, and fed the cats their moist food upstairs, we heated up some pasta that a friend of his had dropped off last week, and ate it at the kitchen table.
We talked strategy about the coming few weeks.
--<>--
The big crisis is over, obviously.
Dad's crossed over. His immediate memorial was Saturday. The house is in my name. And everybody who'd come from out of state, was now home, or soon to be home, and back to their normal lives again.
Tim still plans to stay... probably through February, and possibly into March.
We've still got to deal with Dad's ashes coming home... and the death certificates, which are critical to the house transfer, the car transfer, and cancelling things like his phone/TV/Wifi bundle, and other bills.
We're also gonna continue to clear garbage out of rooms, and organize the belongings of Mom & Dad into; things we're keeping... things we're selling... and things we're donating to thrift stores.
We're talking about taking up the shitty old carpet in the living room... and cleaning and repairing things.
There's stuff to do.
--<>--
Now that the crisis is largely overwith... this is turning into something more like a vacation for Tim.
He's here to help, and I'm glad he's here, because I'll need the help, and I enjoy the company, but... he's having some fun.
We both are!
This began as an emergency... turned into a drama... and now?.. it's just kind of an adventure!
This is the FOURTH time, this house has been handed off from one generation of the family to another!.. and the first such transition of the 21st Century. So, it's kind of a big deal!
--<>--
We both retired to our rooms relatively early this evening. Tim had been up since eight, and... well, I just wanna start getting up earlier myself again, like I was a few weeks ago... to have time before work to get things done around the house.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
Colleen chilled in the hotel room the rest of last night, while back at home, Veda, Frank, Wendy, Jo, and Emberly hung out with Tim and I at the house.
They were going through Grampa & Grandma's stuff to find things they might want to take back home. Some things could be taken on the plane tomorrow. Other things were set aside for Tim to bring back later.
It broke up relatively early, because Frank & Wendy's early flight would require Tim to be up by 8AM, in order to drive them to Midway on time, in Dad's car.
This morning, a few minutes before his alarm was to go off, Tim was woken to the sound of a music box, in his room, playing, Joy To the World.
Grandma had a collection of angel figurines, some of which were wind up music boxes, and Emberly had taken a shine to one. Wendy liked it and wanted to take it home, but they couldn't fit it into their bags, so Tim had set it aside, in his bedroom.
They had wound it up and played it last night, but, it had stopped, long before they'd gone back to their Air B&B.
Now, this morning, all by itself, The golden Christmas Angel began playing Joy To the World at 7:33AM... and played the entire song through!
Tim woke to it right away, because of the high pitch of the music, and immediately knew that this was Mom!
She was not only waking Tim up to be on time for the airport, but... the song itself struck Tim as being a message that Dad was with her, and they were joyfully celebrating.
I wasn't on my feet until noon. Nobody was home when I got downstairs to walk Yvette.
After another one of our long, lingering walks in the cold, we settled down in the kitchen and I called Tim.
He was just on his way back to the house, with Veda, Joe, and Emberly.
The way they'd had to work it out today, Frank & Wendy took a flight early in the morning, but Veda, Joe & Emberly had a different flight for later in the afternoon.
Thus, Tim had to pick up Frank & Wendy early, drive them out to Midway... then come back to get Veda, Joe & Emberly, and drive them out to Midway again a second time!
Right now, he'd just gotten them from their Air B&B in Yorkville, and were coming back to the house to say goodbye to me, before I had to go to work.
Tim was in a great mood, when they got into the house! It was the first sunny day since he's been in Illinois, he'd had that miraculous wake up call from Mom this morning, and, since he'd taken the scenic back roads to the airport and back... he was just kinda stoked about driving through the wooded darios, and rolling meadows of the countryside.
While they had time to hang in the kitchen, we called Colleen, who was just about to get into her shuttle to O'Hare.
Colleen left... and soon after, So did Tim, Joe, Veda & Emberly.
I found myself in the kitchen with just Yvette and the cats... enjoying a peace & quiet I haven't heard since back in mid-December.
But this time around... there were no nagging worries about Dad, in the rehab center. And the cat's were downstairs!.. getting along with the dog!
I too enjoyed seeing blue sky, on the drive to work, for the first time in weeks!
And when I got to Grape, I realized it was the first time, in over six years, that I had clocked in for a day of work, without a nagging worry about Dad, alone back at home.
Half way through my shift, Tony, the supervisor who had happened to be in the building last Tuesday when Dad died, and who told me not to worry and take the rest of the week off... found me again in the same hallway.
He let me know that HIS dad, had ALSO died, on FRIDAY!
It was quite a bizarre coincidence!
Now TONY was taking the rest of the week off, but he let me know that last Tuesday, he'd punched me out at 7PM.
This meant I got credit for being at work all day on Tuesday, which was critical, because Monday had been a paid holiday... and we don't get paid for holidays unless we work the last workday before, and first workday after, they occur.
Thus, I was paid for Martin Luther King Day, and I was also paid for the next day, Tuesday.
And then, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, were paid bereavement days!
So... I got paid for the entire week last week!
The fact that Tony will be gone the rest of this week, I took, as a sign that I don't need to bother with ramping up to full-time right away... since he's the guy who'd have to get that in motion.
So, I'm just gonna enjoy going about my business at Grape Elementary as usual this week, and we'll see where we are next week.
When I got back home tonight, Tim had been back for a while, and told me that Wendy and Frank were already back in Las Vegas!
He was still in a great mood, and after I took Yvette for her night walk, and fed the cats their moist food upstairs, we heated up some pasta that a friend of his had dropped off last week, and ate it at the kitchen table.
We talked strategy about the coming few weeks.
The big crisis is over, obviously.
Dad's crossed over. His immediate memorial was Saturday. The house is in my name. And everybody who'd come from out of state, was now home, or soon to be home, and back to their normal lives again.
Tim still plans to stay... probably through February, and possibly into March.
We've still got to deal with Dad's ashes coming home... and the death certificates, which are critical to the house transfer, the car transfer, and cancelling things like his phone/TV/Wifi bundle, and other bills.
We're also gonna continue to clear garbage out of rooms, and organize the belongings of Mom & Dad into; things we're keeping... things we're selling... and things we're donating to thrift stores.
We're talking about taking up the shitty old carpet in the living room... and cleaning and repairing things.
There's stuff to do.
Now that the crisis is largely overwith... this is turning into something more like a vacation for Tim.
He's here to help, and I'm glad he's here, because I'll need the help, and I enjoy the company, but... he's having some fun.
We both are!
This began as an emergency... turned into a drama... and now?.. it's just kind of an adventure!
This is the FOURTH time, this house has been handed off from one generation of the family to another!.. and the first such transition of the 21st Century. So, it's kind of a big deal!
We both retired to our rooms relatively early this evening. Tim had been up since eight, and... well, I just wanna start getting up earlier myself again, like I was a few weeks ago... to have time before work to get things done around the house.
°¦}
