Remembering My Mom

My Mom passed away very peacefully in the early morning hours of May 6 after a long and hard-fought battle with dementia.  This loss is especially difficult for me and my sisters because it comes so soon after losing our Dad but it is actually a blessing because she is now free from the disease that destroyed her mind.

Last night we held a visitation for family and friends and it was such a lovely evening.  My Mom's wish was to be cremated and we were able to find the perfect mother of pearl urn for her.  The flower arrangement we picked out for the display was also really beautiful.

It was nice to see so many family and friends pay tribute to my Mom and support me and my sisters (once again I wish I had taken more pictures).  The consensus was that my Mom was a gentle soul who touched the lives of everyone with whom she came in contact and these kind words were such a comfort to us!

Christmas 2021

Christmas was a little bit subdued this year because we were missing the one member of our family who loved Christmas the most and it wasn't the same without him.  We all had fewer presents because we didn't have as much free time to prepare but we were all very happy to be together and spent a lot of time reminiscing about past Christmases.

We really enjoyed having Thanksgiving dinner from Cracker Barrel this year so we decided to do it again for Christmas dinner.  This time we chose Olive Garden and it was delicious!  Later in the evening we played Shanghai rummy again (we love playing cards).  This time Kristine won (I have had a streak of bad luck).  It ended up being a really nice day.

I hope you were able to have a wonderful Christmas with the ones you love.

Christmas Eve 2021

We have a tradition of opening one present each on Christmas Eve and it is always new pajamas.  My Mom was pretty excited about her pajamas but Sean was absolutely thrilled because his have the Flash (his favorite comic book character) on them.  After opening presents, we once again played Shanghai rummy (and ate so many treats).  It got pretty boisterous and at one point we were all laughing so hard we couldn't breathe.  It felt really good because we haven't had many opportunities to laugh for the past few months.  Trent beat all of us again but we have all vowed that he is going down when we play again tonight!

Gingerbread Houses 2021

One of my family's favorite Christmas traditions is making gingerbread houses and, since we all needed a bit of Christmas cheer yesterday, we had our annual party and then played Shanghai rummy.

We had a lot of fun and, as always, we ate as much candy as we used on our houses!

Marilyn's house

My house

Tashena's house

Sean's house

I think they turned out pretty good this year!

After we made our gingerbread houses, Kristine and Trent joined us for Shanghai rummy.  It honestly felt good to relax a little bit after such a difficult month.  Trent won but the rest of us declared a rematch tonight!

Remembering My Dad

My Dad passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family last Wednesday after a courageous battle with multiple medical issues.  It is really difficult to lose your Dad but it is comforting to know that he is free from pain.  We held a visitation for family and friends last night and hearing so many lovely things about my Dad was also very comforting.

It was my Dad's wish to be cremated and we had a dear family friend make his urn.  We asked for the flowers to be red and white to honor his Canadian roots.

We had a display of pictures of when he was young (and very handsome) as well as pictures of him playing Santa Claus.  We also displayed all of his hockey jerseys.

We were so worried about how my Mom would handle seeing so many people, which can be overwhelming for her, but she did really well.  She was able to visit with most of her siblings as well as her cousin (pictured above) and she was able to recognize many neighbors and friends.

I was very touched by how many people came and I wish that I had been able to get more pictures.  The only time I lost my composure was when friends would talk about their memories of watching hockey with my Dad!

I am so happy that my niece Tashena was able to come home from college to be with us and I can't believe how handsome my nephew Sean looked (he was wearing my Dad's watch).

I want to thank everyone who came to the visitation because it really was wonderful to see and talk to all of you about my Dad.

Thanksgiving 2021

It has been a rough two weeks for my family because my Dad has been in the hospital for some unexplained symptoms.  He had to be put on a ventilator for several days and recovering from that has been rough on him.  None of us were really up for celebrating Thanksgiving (and all that it entails) this year but my sister had the idea of ordering everything from Cracker Barrel!  She picked everything up on Wednesday and then all we had to do yesterday was heat it up (they even gave very detailed instructions of when to put each item in the oven so everything would be ready at the same time).  The whole dinner tasted delicious but, more importantly, we all were able to get together (except for my Dad, who is still in the hospital, and Tashena, who is playing in a basketball tournament in Arizona) and have a much needed break from the stress.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the people you love!

Note:  We are thinking of ordering Thanksgiving from a restaurant from now on!

Christmas 2020

I was given very strict instructions by Sean to be at my parents' house by 8:00 yesterday morning to start opening presents and I made with a few minutes to spare!  He was a bit excited!  We always take turns opening presents one at a time, starting with the youngest (Sean) to the oldest (my Mom), so it takes a couple of hours but it is so much fun.  It is also tradition to have cinnamon rolls and orange juice while we open.

Sean got a bunch of new games and, after we opened presents, we didn't see him again for the rest of the day because he was downloading and playing them.  Tashena's big present was an Apple watch and now I think I need one!  I got a new rolling duffel bag, a puffer jacket that folds into a small bag, a Hydro Flask, some winter boots, and some more DVDs for my Alfred Hitchcock collection.  If I am actually able to go to Iceland next year I am all set!  My Dad gave everyone $50 which is a tradition we have had since my sisters and I were really young (Sean already bought another game online).  In the afternoon we had a wonderful Christmas dinner with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, pomegranate salad, rolls, and vegetables with dip.  We took a break and then had another game of Shanghai rummy.  I didn't come in last place this time but it still wasn't pretty!  It was a really nice Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2020

Yesterday my family had a wonderful holiday (as you can see from Sean's expression ha ha!).  It was a little different than usual because we put all of the food out buffet-style and ate in the living room so that we could distance ourselves a bit more.  That ended up being a lot of fun with lots of conversations and laughter!

We had turkey and ham, stuffing, cheesy potatoes (here in Utah they are called funeral potatoes), rolls, pomegranate salad (a tradition in our family), and a vegetable tray with dip.  Everything tasted delicious!  We actually had pumpkin, pecan, and cherry pies but we were all so full that we didn't even get them out!

After dinner we played a crazy game of shanghai rummy!  We have not played this together since New Year's Eve and it felt really good to be doing something so normal after the year that we have had!  We got laughing so hard that I could hardly breathe!  Kristine won but I came in second, even after a disastrous early round (we are thinking of having a tournament over the Christmas break where we all buy in and winner takes all but that might make it even more ruthless than usual).  I think this is one of the best Thanksgivings we've had!

Note:  Tashena is going back up to school in Washington state today after being home since the pandemic started.  We will miss her so much but she'll be back for Christmas!