The Worst Two Weeks Ever!!!

On Sunday, September 7th at around 11:00 P.M., my sister called to tell me one of her son-in-laws committed suicide.  He was living in New York.  Luckily his wife and 5 kids were already living in Idaho.  He has had years of substance abuse, behavior issues and general all around issues.  He had beaten up my niece in January and hit two of the kids.  After that, the kids and her came home to Idaho.

I was awake for most of the night talking with my sister, answering questions, figuring out what was going to happen next.  We finally went to bed around 3:30.  I slept for a couple hours, got up around 6:00 and headed to Idaho to help my sister and my niece with the five kids.

There were funeral plans to make, get the body home from New York, viewing, funeral, etc to deal with.  During the week I helped with kids, did laundry, cleaned houses, did shopping, ran errands, etc.  On Monday, I let Tyler and Kylee "fix" my hair.  They had so much fun.

On Friday, September 12th, while I was in Idaho, Scott's Aunt Maurine passed away in Orem.  She was 86 years old.  She fell a few weeks ago and had screws placed in the hip to hold it together.  She developed blood clots and had been in and out of the hospital a few times.

While I was in Idaho with my sister, we got word from Nevada that my Mom had failed very quickly and her doctor had given her 7-10 days.  Hospice was called in to help make that transition.

The viewing was held in Idaho on Friday, September 12th and the funeral on Saturday, September 13th.  Maurine's funeral was held in Las Vegas on Friday, September 19th.  I did not make it to that one.

My sister Jan flew out to Idaho on Thursday, September 11th to be with my sister Pat and niece Lisa.  Once the funeral in Idaho was done, we headed back to my house, do laundry and repack suitcases and head to Carson City.

Cristal had gone down to Mom's on Saturday and was giving us reports on Mom's progress.  She was very sick and her kidney's were shutting down.

We got to Carson City Sunday afternoon and Mom was alert, but very confused.  She did not know who we were.  We had a few good days of visiting with Mom, getting her outside in the sun, which she loved.

My son Cliff, who has not talked to me in over two years came in to town on Monday to see Mom.  

My brother Ed came in from Wyoming on Tuesday.  Not sure if Mom recognized him or not.

On Wednesday, my brother Mike from Alaska came in to town to visit.  I had not seen Mike since Cristal was about a year old.

Mom ate really good Sunday and Monday.  She was pretty alert both days, but very confused.  We put her in bed around 9:00 PM both nights and slept through breakfast.  She woke up both days around lunch time and was starved.  Monday and Tuesday she ate lunch and dinner and we spent the afternoon outside in the courtyard behind her place.

Wednesday she was not very hungry, but had part of a chocolate shake.  We put her to bed Wednesday night and that was the last time she was awake.  She slept Wednesday night all night.  Thursday morning Hospice came in and gave her a bed bath.  She commented that felt really good, and that was the last she said anything.  Wednesday and Thursday night were very restless for her.  Her breathing was labored and she had difficulty.  Thursday night was so bad, Jan and I stayed with Cristal all night.

Friday morning her breathing was very labored and loud.  For a few days, she had long pauses in her breathing, but every time she would start breathing again.  Friday around 11:30 A.M. she had two big gasps and stopped breathing.

Hospice had to come in to declare her dead and the funeral home was notified.

We did a graveside service Monday morning in the Fernley, Nevada Veterans Cemestary.  An Honor Guard was there to do taps, Amazing Grace, a 21 gun salute and folding of the flag.  Very classy.  The Honor Guard did a great tribute to Mom.