Being Taken Care Of
I've been having a mildly unusual time of getting taken care of by a lot of people. A good number of them are from our church, and the biggest flood of that was on Sunday, where everyone offered us a hug, condolences, and a few moments of thoughtful conversations. It was amazing how much support we got on that day.
And I'll never forget Strider's words, he said that his experience was nearly the opposite of what John's was when his father passed away; but that on hearing John's story he could find the world a gentler place because he now knew that such a passing was possible.
We've had two meals already delivered to our door, and a third offer that will be in a day or two. When I was first asked if we wanted a meal, my first inclination was that they didn't have to bother, or that I was okay with cooking, but really it was a way for them to let us know they cared. So I said, yes, and I've been comforted and I think it comforted them as well. Remembering the times we've brought meals to people, it was a good thing for us as well as them.
Three years ago, I lost a co-writer to sudden heart failure. No warning at all, she was just writing with me one evening, and the next morning, she was gone. No inkling, and it hit very hard. The day before I'd promised her that I'd go sky diving sometimes, because she couldn't, and I just hadn't kept that promise up to this point. With the prompting of all this happening, I decided it was time.
Irana died on St. Patrick's Day, so in defiance of that, and also from the fact that Mile-High Skydiving is always open on weekends, I scheduled a tandem jump for the 17th of March. I also bought the seed starting stuff I needed to get tomato plants and other plants started this spring, and planted a small section of frost-hardy seeds in the memory of George's huge vegetable garden.
The jump will be a week after we get back home from Seattle for George's Memorial Service, which will be held on the 10th. He's being cremated, so they decided to schedule a little time for folks to recover before they're going to do the celebration of his life. And all the brothers are gearing up for that. My parents sent Isabel a flower arraignment, and the colors inspired her to use that color scheme for the memorial service, so all things are good. I am grateful for my parents doing all that they've been doing, too.
This morning, I did a little writing and a little of the marketing writers have to do. Then I went to the local Crackpots, a self-painting ceramics store, and painted a bowl for Empty Bowls, the local fundraiser for the homeless food bank, shelter, and soup kitchen. The OUR Center raises money by gathering in the bowls and by selling tickets to the lunch where the bowl are given and auctioned away. I have fun doing them, but the church was doing the bowls the weekend I was in Tennessee, so I had to go in on my own.
I just spent an hour, and painted what struck my fancy. There's another strand of morning glories and a bee on the side as well. It's kind of fun, and a shallow, big bowl, and I really love its shape. It was nice to have all the hundreds of colors to pick from, too, instead of the six that the church workshop usually had.
We're not going to be able to make the lunch this year, as that's the same weekend as George's memorial service, and we gave our tickets to some folks that normally can't go but can this year and had painted bowls that they might be able to find the way we usually find Jet's. They're also the family that brought us dinner on Friday, so that worked out really really well.
The bus stop was kind of fun, and Peter, our neighbor and a lovely tough Italian family man, offered us a lasagna some night, along with a rare but heartfelt hug. That was so cool. And we accepted both gratefully.
This evening, Mimi, my art mentor and the lady I consult for, brought us soup and bread and tofu for Jet. She was really wonderful about bringing us what we needed, and it was great to hug her and thank her. We had to have an early dinner, as John had a meeting, and Jet was really plowing through the last of his science project. They're due tomorrow, and with the time away, he's had a little less time to work on it than we had thought. Still, he'd done all the experimentation a month ago, so he had all his results and just had to make the pretty board with all the stuff on it.
So I did a lot of rubber cementing; but Jet determined where everything would go, he was the one that drew all the stuff on the sides, and he was the one that got it all together. He just told me where he wanted the pieces.
Then we got to watch a little of the first of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Jet and I were playing the Lego game, but my hands were hurting enough that it was better to watch the movie. Yes, I'm dictating this rather than typing it.
I put Jet to bed, and talked for a while with demented-dee and that was good just to touch base and be for a bit.
Hope all of you are well, and thank you, so much, for the help, support, prayers, and thoughts. They have definitely helped, and I appreciate every one of them, even or especially the ones that I don't know about. Thank you.
And I'll never forget Strider's words, he said that his experience was nearly the opposite of what John's was when his father passed away; but that on hearing John's story he could find the world a gentler place because he now knew that such a passing was possible.
We've had two meals already delivered to our door, and a third offer that will be in a day or two. When I was first asked if we wanted a meal, my first inclination was that they didn't have to bother, or that I was okay with cooking, but really it was a way for them to let us know they cared. So I said, yes, and I've been comforted and I think it comforted them as well. Remembering the times we've brought meals to people, it was a good thing for us as well as them.
Three years ago, I lost a co-writer to sudden heart failure. No warning at all, she was just writing with me one evening, and the next morning, she was gone. No inkling, and it hit very hard. The day before I'd promised her that I'd go sky diving sometimes, because she couldn't, and I just hadn't kept that promise up to this point. With the prompting of all this happening, I decided it was time.
Irana died on St. Patrick's Day, so in defiance of that, and also from the fact that Mile-High Skydiving is always open on weekends, I scheduled a tandem jump for the 17th of March. I also bought the seed starting stuff I needed to get tomato plants and other plants started this spring, and planted a small section of frost-hardy seeds in the memory of George's huge vegetable garden.
The jump will be a week after we get back home from Seattle for George's Memorial Service, which will be held on the 10th. He's being cremated, so they decided to schedule a little time for folks to recover before they're going to do the celebration of his life. And all the brothers are gearing up for that. My parents sent Isabel a flower arraignment, and the colors inspired her to use that color scheme for the memorial service, so all things are good. I am grateful for my parents doing all that they've been doing, too.
This morning, I did a little writing and a little of the marketing writers have to do. Then I went to the local Crackpots, a self-painting ceramics store, and painted a bowl for Empty Bowls, the local fundraiser for the homeless food bank, shelter, and soup kitchen. The OUR Center raises money by gathering in the bowls and by selling tickets to the lunch where the bowl are given and auctioned away. I have fun doing them, but the church was doing the bowls the weekend I was in Tennessee, so I had to go in on my own.
I just spent an hour, and painted what struck my fancy. There's another strand of morning glories and a bee on the side as well. It's kind of fun, and a shallow, big bowl, and I really love its shape. It was nice to have all the hundreds of colors to pick from, too, instead of the six that the church workshop usually had.
We're not going to be able to make the lunch this year, as that's the same weekend as George's memorial service, and we gave our tickets to some folks that normally can't go but can this year and had painted bowls that they might be able to find the way we usually find Jet's. They're also the family that brought us dinner on Friday, so that worked out really really well.
The bus stop was kind of fun, and Peter, our neighbor and a lovely tough Italian family man, offered us a lasagna some night, along with a rare but heartfelt hug. That was so cool. And we accepted both gratefully.
This evening, Mimi, my art mentor and the lady I consult for, brought us soup and bread and tofu for Jet. She was really wonderful about bringing us what we needed, and it was great to hug her and thank her. We had to have an early dinner, as John had a meeting, and Jet was really plowing through the last of his science project. They're due tomorrow, and with the time away, he's had a little less time to work on it than we had thought. Still, he'd done all the experimentation a month ago, so he had all his results and just had to make the pretty board with all the stuff on it.
So I did a lot of rubber cementing; but Jet determined where everything would go, he was the one that drew all the stuff on the sides, and he was the one that got it all together. He just told me where he wanted the pieces.
Then we got to watch a little of the first of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Jet and I were playing the Lego game, but my hands were hurting enough that it was better to watch the movie. Yes, I'm dictating this rather than typing it.
I put Jet to bed, and talked for a while with demented-dee and that was good just to touch base and be for a bit.
Hope all of you are well, and thank you, so much, for the help, support, prayers, and thoughts. They have definitely helped, and I appreciate every one of them, even or especially the ones that I don't know about. Thank you.