I am not a fan of the 25th of February

5 years ago today, my nephew Dane left us. It is still hard to think about that day and that phone call and how our lives were forever changed. It is still hard to believe Dane isn't physically here with us to make us laugh, to love us like he did. Dane especially loved his mom.


I don't know what you do if you don't have faith, if you don't believe that you are going to be reunited with those you have loved here on earth who have gone before you. Here is something that I find so comforting. It was written by my brother, Tom, a little over a year after Dane died. Tom was in the midst of a tough battle with a brain tumor when he had the most amazing vision. In June 2006, Tom posted this retelling of the experience on Dane's memorial website (thedanetrain.com).

"This is about an incident that occurred about 5 or 6 weeks ago. I relayed it to Jenny back then and most of my family is aware of this but I then thought in the last few days that Dane's friends are as important. So for everyone, here is what happened to me.
This occurred early one morning when I was being moved in Memorial Hermann Hospital into the inpatient therapy section to recover the movement of my right side. So about 6am I had the veins in my legs examined to ensure there was not blockage, and all was fine. So I was laying in a bed waiting to be transported back to my room. I was not sleepy or high on any medication. While laying there, my Dad, Dane and my sister Marcia appeared. Marcia died in 1951 (when I was about 3 months old and my sister Sue was about 1 1/2 years old). Marcia had leukemia which wasn't something you survived then but do now. The three appeared before me and they were having a great time laughing and doing little dances like Dad would do. Dad spoke to say that every thing is fine but Dane and Marcia also gave a look that every thing is fine. The images were there for 5 minutes and after they communicated to me, they just hung around having fun. It was clear that while we get sad and mourn the loss of Dane, Dad and Marcia, they don't feel sad. It was clear to me that they aren't sad or mourning their deaths because they have moved on to such a peaceful place. Although they may wait 70 plus years to see us on that plane, that time is meaningless to them and they look forward to seeing every one especially Dane's buddies.
So it was very comforting to see these three and I have needed that comfort although I was in a great mood then and now. More importantly, Dane is in a great place."

So, today I take comfort in what God has promised us through His Son and I'll rest in the knowledge that some glorious day I will get to meet Marcia and I will be reunited, for eternity, with Dane, Tom and Dad.

I love you, Danie-boy!

Two quick pictures

I started to write a post, but then lost my focus because of the Olympics. Before I head to bed, I just wanted to share two darling pictures from the weekend.


Abbie the Dog Whisperer (though here she wasn't whispering...she was singing with great gusto!)



Nina...wearing Dane's glasses! Love it.
I promise to write a proper post soon. For now, good night!

Winter Olympics

I love the Olympics! I am in total awe. I cannot believe the things that these people can do...the snowboard cross, the half pipes, ski jumping, figure skating. Oh my. I can barely walk on slippery surfaces. I cannot imagine flying down mountains on two little pieces of wood that do not have brakes or doing any of these events. There is not one I could possibly do.

Tonight Jack and I have been watching some of the men's figure skating and at one point, the commentators were introducing a skater using the tease, "Could an Olympic figure skater come from one of those rinks you see in the shopping malls?" Oh, that made me smile!!! Made me think of Jack's famous spins around the rink at the Galleria in Dallas. Classic! And Wayne's attempts at skating, both on concrete and on ice ("Fwwwaaa"). We talked to Wayne a little while ago and he said it was a shame he did not grow up in Plano or he would have been an Olympian. And I had just said to Jack that it was too bad Evergreen Plaza did not have an ice rink or for certain he would have had a shot at Olympic fame.

:)

Wayne's 25th in Cincy

We had a wonderful weekend visiting Wayne in Cincinnati for his 25th birthday. I took 1/2 personal day on Friday afternoon and Jack and I got on the road by 1 pm. It was a bright, beautiful winter afternoon with clear roads...long weekend, on the way to see our boy...it was a great feeling.

We pulled into the hotel Friday night about 7:15 Cincy time. The place was packed! There was a "national super sectional" dance competition aka Dance Jam and the hotel was full of girls of all ages, accompanied by their moms. With this economy, we loved seeing how busy the hotel was and how much money these people must be spending. Seriously, the fancy costumes, hairdos, the special makeup, the personalized luggage and jackets ("{insert trendy name here}" embroidered on everything, for the mothers as well!) While riding with some of the groups in the elevators, Jack would ask how they were doing and they were happy to share their results, though we really didn't understand what they meant! There was lots of positive energy in the hotel and we enjoyed the people watching.

Shortly after we checked in, Wayne and Julie met us at the hotel for dinner. Wayne's boss and his wife live a few blocks away from the hotel and they ended up joining us, too. It was great to meet them. Everyone was in such a great mood. Dinner was awesome and relaxing and we just had to take the elevator upstairs at the end of the evening (along with 10 or more dancers and their mothers!)




On Saturday, Jack, Wayne, Julie and I went to the Mustard Club for lunch. I am not exactly sure what the Mustard Club is, but I do know that it involves German heritage, sausages, dark German beer and people in yellow shirts. It meets the 2nd Saturday of every month in a German restaurant near the University of Cincinnati campus. It kinda reminded me of our trips to Germany in EPCOT with Jack's family. Though there was not a band playing and no one was chanting"Ticki tacki ticki tacki hoy hoy hoy", a group of men did stand up and start singing what appeared to be some patriotic German song while swinging their steins of beer. After lunch, Jack and I went back to the hotel to nap, with plans to meet at Wayne's by 5 or so.



We realized on the way down to Cincinnati that we had left the Garmin GPS device in the car Sally has at school. That was a bit of problem as Cincinnati is very difficult to find your way around. Really difficult, in fact. Lots of curved streets that change names, one way streets, two major highways with similar numbers ("Do we want 71 or 75?!" with three seconds to decide). Jack and I got lost several times, even though we used the maps on our iphones, it wasn't quite as easy as having the Garmin lady talking you through it ("recalculating, please make a u-turn as soon as it is safe to do so"). We were trying to find a hardware store so Jack could fix the door to the powder room at Wayne's house. Never mind that. We ended up giving up and just went back to Wayne's and went out to dinner. Jack, Wayne and I went to a great little restaurant in Wayne's neighborhood. Later on, Julie came over to set up for a little party for Wayne. Wayne has made some really nice friends while living in Cincinnati and several of them came over to "pregame", as this generation calls it, before going out on the town. Wayne's new roommate, Nate, was out of town for the weekend, as were some of his other friends, but there was still a good turnout of fun folks.

Julie put together a nice pregame for Wayne's birthday

Oh to be young!

Jack and some of the girls


Wayne and one of his friends/coworkers, Matt


I thought maybe I could still give Wayne a piggyback ride, but wisely decided not to try it :)


On Sunday, we went to mass at Wayne's church. It is a beautiful old church (they are celebrating their 150th anniversary) that sits high up on a hill that overlooks the city. I took this picture with my phone as we drove to meet Wayne. It doesn't do it justice, but it gives you an idea...it is sticking up in the mid-left of the picture.


After mass, we were going to try and get some breakfast, but everything was packed, so we ended up at a Buffalo Wild Wings. Jack and I had never tried "B Dubs" (again, as the young and hip call it) and we liked it. We were able to watch the Illinois-Ohio State basketball game, though it was a bit painful. The Illini were coming off two big upsets of Michigan State and Wisconsin, but man, they could not make a basket for anything yesterday. We ran some errands with Wayne and then took off around 4 Cincy time. There was a winter storm warning for Cincinnati and the surrounding area and we wanted to get on the road before it hit. It was a smooth drive home, something we never take for granted.

Loved my weekend and it isn't even over yet because of Presidents Day!

Happy birthday, Wayne!

Wayne is a quarter of a century old! As Jack says, "Wayne is closer to being 50 than he is to being born".
Happy birthday, Wayne! You have brought me and Dad such joy for the last 25 years and we thank God everyday for the privilege of being your parents. Can't wait to celebrate with you!

Weekend update

I can't believe that it is almost 11 pm and I am still up. Might have something to do with the nap I took during the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl. Since I am wide awake, I thought I'd take a minute to blog about the weekend.

We started the weekend with Sally coming home Friday night. There was a job fair in Rosemont on Saturday and so she headed home after her class ended at 5. The weather was snowy and a bit icy, even worse down in Champaign than it was here, and I-57 gets treacherous quickly because it is so open. It took her about an hour longer than usual to get home and I was relieved when she pulled in the driveway. Sally, Jack and I just visited while she got everything organized for the job fair. She had to leave by 7 am Saturday morning so we got up to see her off. We were up and ready for action, so after Sally left, Jack and I decided to go to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the White House exhibit. We had not been this museum for years, probably since Sally did a speech there in second grade. The White House exhibit was a bit disappointing; I don't know exactly what we were expecting, but we were both saying, "Is that it??" as we walked out. It was still a worthwhile trip, definitely out of the rut. The weather continued to be cold, snowy and windy and the views while driving down South Lake Shore Drive were so barren and gray. Winter in Chicago. We went to 5 o'clock mass and made some pizza for dinner. It was a cozy Saturday night.

This morning, Jean and I had a great walk because it was much warmer (20 degrees! woo hoo!) and the streets were clear so we could really walk without having to worry about falling. Jack and I caught up with Sally about the job fair. It sounded like it was a productive day. Hopefully the contacts Sally made will help her get some interviews. Sally took off for Champaign around 2 and I headed out to see Marmar and Susie. It was great to visit for a little bit. Brooke, Sue's Newfoundland, loves winter...I am glad to see someone is enjoying it!

Jack and I watched half-time and the last half of the Super Bowl (or part of it, in my case!). After the Super Bowl, there was a new show called Undercover Boss. It was excellent!! In this new series, a CEO goes undercover in his or her company and works several different low-level jobs, each for one day at a time. Tonight it was the president of Waste Management. It was so interesting and heartwarming. I recommend it.

Have a good week, everyone! Day after tomorrow is Wayne's birthday!!

February

For the past few days, I have not been feeling like my usual chipper self. I could not define the feeling, but it was somewhere in the vicinity of bothered, crabby, anxious, inadequate. At first I thought it was that I was tired after my big weekend (well, big for me) and then I was thinking that maybe I was getting sick. Last night I called Jenny to catch up with her since I had not talked to her since Egg Harbor and was telling her about my mood. She said, "Well, it is February" and it was as if a light bulb went on. Oh, yeah! In addition to the darkness and cold of this month, we have also had quite a few family traumas in the past six or seven Februarys. All Jenny had to say was "February" and it was clear to me that she was right, whether I realized it or not. That really helped me to acknowledge it.



Today at work our OT Sally was doing scooter races with the kids. Eventually the adults had to take a turn and here is a video of Sally and me on the scooters. You would be surprised at how much work moving those scooters involves!