A Blemish on our Weekend

Well, this last weekend was anything but mundane. There is so much to write about, I'll have to break it up into chunks to get it all. I think I'll start first with the lousy part. I guess there were actually 2 lousy parts but this is the one that affected me the most.

My father had one sister who died when I was a teenager. And my mother had one brother who never married nor had any children. He just passed away this weekend.

Mom emailed me that he was sick last week and it sounded pretty grim. She left Kauai Wednesday night, got into LA Thursday AM and finally got to the hospital to see Uncle Eugene about noon. He was in the ICU, he couldn't breathe. His breathing was so bad that he found it difficult to lay down, walk or talk, virtually impossible actually. So Mom got to visit him Thursday and Friday evening he went home after the doctors admitted there was nothing to be done for him and the DNR issue was resolved.

When he got home they set up the bed in the dining room facing the window so he could look out. They put a picture of Kathy's cute doggy on the wall and he got to visit with the 4 dogs that were there at the house. I'm sure that comforted him, he always loved animals and seemed to get along better with them than he did with people.

Apparently he had cancer all over and probably a blood clot on his lung. Sounds like it was a fast way to go. He was 72. He died quietly in his sleep when Mom finally left the room to go in the bathroom Saturday morning about 9AM. Kathy and Edith (my sister and 2nd cousin) got to see him right after he died, Edith had the guts to touch him and said he was still warm.

Now poor Mom has that huge job of taking care of the estate. At least she's done it before so she knows the ropes.