Pamster's Planet

Really gone

Sharon's visit Dec 08 064
Originally uploaded by Sharon & Jerry Adkisson

Uncle Johns passed away in the wee hours of Sunday morning. He was buried in a cemetary on a hill overlooking Orosi (suburb south of Costa Rica). Mom took this lovely photo of a rainbow as he was being laid to rest.

Bizarre!

In a bizarre turn of events, it turns out that Uncle Johns is still breathing. In the immortal words of M*nty Python, "I'm n*t dead yet."  However, his heart was stopped for 20 minutes so his prognosis is not good.  The Johns we know may already be gone even though his body is still alive.  Apparently, my Grandpa was very emotional about his condition and when he talked to my mom yesterday he (obviously) was not clear about the situation.

I'm pretty speechless.  Mom is going down tomorrow and will hopefully keep us informed a little better.

P

RIP Uncle Johns

Forgive the dreadful photo of a low-res printed image - it's all I have at this moment.  Johns and Phyllis are a couple of old hippies.  They sold everything and moved to Costa Rica 4 or 5 years ago with their two girls.  They were married when I was fairly young.  I remember that Phyllis wore a hooded cape instead of a traditional veil.  When I was a young teen they picked me up from church camp one time.  I remember they had a lot of Devo tapes in their pick up.  I've always associated Devo with Johns.



I remember another visit to their home 20+ years ago. They lived in a gorgeous old house in Huntsville, Alabama. Johns had recently been diagnosed with diabetes and they were being very deliberate about what foods they prepared. I expected diet food or something not too fun. Instead, we had one of the best meals ever with grilled hamburgers, fresh from the garden tomatoes, and lots of other good stuff.
Recently Johns acquired some sort of nasty infection. He had surgery on his back and found to be completely septic. They didn't think he would survive the surgery but he did. However, a few days ago he had a heart attach and this afternoon he died. I'm heartbroken for Phyllis and their girls and so sad for the loss of this great guy from our family. He was much too young to go and I'm heartbroken.

Rough week - lovely day

It seems that Annali has been having more tantrums than usual this week.  She and I were just at cross purposes all week.  Today, however, was different.  We were mommies together.  When I was rocking Tyler to sleep for nap time and bed time, she brought in one of her baby dolls and sat in the little rocker beside me.  Of course she couldn't sit still so she would set her baby in the chair and go run some errand or another.  Then she'd come back and ask if her baby had cried and if I had watched her.  It was so cute.  After Tyler went down for his nap, she and I cuddled on our bed.  She told me she liked me, she loved me, and that I was pretty.  Just melted my heart.  Now if we could find a way to carry that good feeling over into our school morning routine.

Where to start?

Yesterday was grandma's funeral.  It was a sad and joyful occasion.  She was the kind of woman about whom there are no doubts.  I can state with 100% certainty that she is in heaven communing with the heavenly hosts. 

After the funeral we all drove down to Anthony, Kansas for the graveside service.  Annali was full of questions.  We just kept repeating that grandma Nadine's body was in the basket casket but her spirit was in heaven with Jesus.  Much too hard for a 3-year-old to comprehend. 

After the burial we drove a few blocks away to the house where my dad, aunt Patsy, and uncle Ernie grew up.  It was boarded up and abandoned, which was kind of sad, but it was cool to see.  This is the first time since I was very, very young that we were back in Anthony.  Apparently it has been that long for my dad as well.

Tonight I got the chance to sit in Grandma's chair for a bit as we visited with grandpa Ernie and sorted through old photos and papers.  It kind of felt like a hug from her.

This has been a tough week.  Aside from grandma's passing, Tyler fell Wednesday and got a deep laceration to his forehead.  Alex's mom finally convinced us that it might need looking at by a doctor so she brought him up to the hospital.  What a day - clocked out of work and walked upstairs to spend the next 5 hours in the ER.  He ended up with 3 stitches to his forehead.  One of my residents did the honors.  Tyler was a trooper through it all.  The most awful part for him was being strapped into the papoose thingy while they worked on his head.  The nurse suggested that maybe they could just hold him down.  I let her know that he hates to be on his back for a 30-second diaper change and that he would definitely struggle for the several minutes it took to stitch him up.  The papoose was definitely a requirement.

Wednesday was pretty craptastic from start to finish.  Annali and I had a rough morning.  She threw quite the tantrum and I ended up pulling over and getting out of the car because I couldn't listen to her any longer.  I stood on the sidewalk and called work to let them know I was going to be even later than planned.  Finally I opened the door and talked to her and got her to calm down and we proceeded to work.

I'm so glad this week is OVER.

Queen Nadini

My sweet grandma is now with Jesus.

WAHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

YES we can!

Independence Halloween Parade

Enjoy the images below or go to Flickr to see the slideshow with titles.

Pumpkin Patch

My pix here.
Mom's pix here.

my custom QT

Isn't she adorable? [Created by La at Sweet Shoppe Designs]