A Punch To The Heart...

A tough entry to write here folks. Lou suffered a heart attack during the night and was rushed to the hospital and they worked on her diligently but could not save her. She passed away this morning at about 7am. She had been through sheer hell and had survived it before. She went through so much suffering and then on the other side of it was able to communicate to us that she was okay. She held on long enough through everything to see her little grand baby for the first time. That made her so incredibly happy. And during the night, she suffered a massive heart attack. My family is in deep pain but the one thing that has helped us a lot is our faith. We are going to go through a lot of pain and hurt over the next week, but we will endure... As you might imagine, Terri is taking it the hardest. They were the best of friends, the "golden girls". Me, I'm still numb and am processing everything that I can. Its difficult to say so long to someone you've grown close to. But I know she would want me/us to continue on and keep going... Going to take some time off from the blog. But I'll check back and let you know how things are going... Pray for us... thanks...

How Sweet It Is (so help me Jackie Gleason)

With everything going on with Lou and Terri, it's been a bit difficult for me to keep myself up to date in the gal pal department. I have been on the road so much over the last few months, that I hadn't gotten to spend much time with her. We spend time every night chatting and talking but we haven't spent much time face to face. My gal pal made that fact very clear to me last week. She understood everything going on with the girls and was trying to be supportive, but I had been neglecting my duties in regards to her. So I had a game on Saturday night that I had to broadcast. Afterwards, I told her goodnight and went to bed. I woke up early Sunday morning and decided to make the six hour drive to go see the gal pal and surprise her as a Valentine's Day present. I got there and knew she and her family would be at church. So I go to the church and quietly saunter in and sit in the back. There were folks who saw me and wanted to say hello but I gave them the shoosh with a finger over my lips and they understood that my gal pal didn't know I was there. I walked over to her after church and said hello. The look on her face was absolutely priceless. It was a look of complete shock followed by tears of joy. I hugged her and each time I tried to break the hug, she just kept hugging me tight and wouldn't let go. I totally stunned her and she was the happiest camper. I got someone to cover me at work and it was blissful for her as I had Monday off and was able to spend a little extra time with her. Everyone told me she seemed a little grumpy last week. I guess her "Mik fix" changed things around considerably... But I learned a big lesson in that I need to pay attention and keep an eye on the boss. Even when I know she's understands what I'm dealing with concerning the girls, the underlying message was that she needed me. And I dropped the ball... but I shocked the living daylights out of her and then on Valentine's Day, I had to go back to work but made sure some flowers, candy, a teddy bear, and some spa treatment stuff were delivered to her... So I figure I've got like a 3 day grace period... lol... But it was all worth it to see the look on her face and then to have her say through happy tears that she loves me... Very much worth it...

Movin' On Over (Tip of the hat to George Thorogood)

Well,
sometimes with the good there is the bad... The good is that Lou was moved from the long term hospital to an extended care facility to do some rehab and work towards getting home. The bad? Well, that's a double whammy. First, the ECF is about 25 miles from her home which isn't too bad but it's going to be harder on Terri who doesn't drive on expressways. She freaks out on them I guess. The ECF is out town and the way there is via the expressway. The worse news is that Terri told me yesterday that she (Terri) went to the doctor and some of the cancer has come back in the lower part of her body and has spread some. Not good. But Terri talked about it matter of factly and was more concerned about Lou than about herself. Typical Terri. And she would in the past seemed worried and sad about it... not this time. She is in a lot of discomfort and pain, but she is more determined than ever to battle this thing. Please keep the prayers coming... She was baby-sitting her nephews and was making plans to cook a feast for the Superbowl and it dawned on me that she has such great faith. I wish mine were that strong... But seeing the family persevere, that strengthens my faith. And with faith comes (dare I say it?) HOPE?