Sunday, February 6th
Early this morning Big Mister's dad passed away. No one was surprised, but it is still a shock when the time to say goodbye really comes. I remember the day my daddy died. I wrote about in a Wednesday's story
here.
Tonight Big Mister's family came for dinner...kind of a Super Bowl Party that has turned in to a funeral planning get-together. We had 20 people and it was a houseful. It was a bittersweet get together as dad LOVED football. It was nice to have mom able to attend. She's been pretty much home bound taking care of dad. While we were together, most of the funeral was planned and assignments were made. There were a few tears, but mom was handling things really well.
On Saturday evening, February 5th, Big Mister's sister, Melissa, flew in from California to visit her daddy. We had no idea how long he'd last but we knew it couldn't be too much longer. Mom and all the siblings had planned a meeting once his sister arrived to discuss dad's condition. Hospice had recommended taking him off all treatment, including dialysis. As the family met the decision was made that the best thing to do would be to end treatment as it was just prolonging his pain. We believe that dad was waiting for his wife and children to let him go. Once the children left mom and dad's house that evening, he was gone within two hours. We are so thankful that he passed peacefully in his sleep. About 2:00 a.m. mom called with the news that dad was gone. Big Mister immediately returned to his parents home, along with four of his seven siblings. They were able to tell their father goodbye and waited with their mother until the mortuary workers came. We are also thankful that his sister from California was able to tell her father goodbye.
Monday, February 7th
Big Mister worked until noon and them met his mom and siblings at the funeral home to pick out a casket and make arrangements. Tonight, Big Mister's brother, Marty, his wife and six children drove in from Houston to stay with us for the week. Everyone seems to congregate at our house for food and visiting quite often and I feel the pressure of providing meals for everyone. So, what did I do Monday to prepare? Grocery shop, clean, lay out clean towels, washrags and toothpaste, make sure there is soap and shampoo in the shower and clean some more. Our company arrived late on Monday, just in time to crash for a good sleep after 20 hours of driving straight through.
I was assigned to locate sheet music to the song, "The Holy City". I remember my dad singing that song. He had a beautiful voice! It was one of Big Mister's dad's favorites and would be sung as a duet at the funeral. You may have heard the MO TAB singing it...you can find it on YouTube. The memory was so strong of my dad singing it that I remembered I inherited all of my dad's sheet music. I went to my music file and right there in the "H" folder I found the sheet music with my dad's name hand written on the cover. Unfortunately, it was missing one page. Luckily I was able to find a free copy (different version) online. Whew!
Tuesday, February 8th
Big Mister worked another half day and then met up with the rest of his family to continue making arrangements and visit the cemetery. Breakfast for our house guests was Double Cheese and Egg bacon biscuits served with fruit. Recipe found
here. So good and a crowd pleaser...you must try them. I have made them three times now for different events with yummy success. Just don't buy the cheap biscuits as they are smaller, stick to the muffin tins and just don't work as well. Get the new Simply brand by Pillsbury.
The whole family came for dinner again tonight. Yikes. That's about 30 people. So, today I baked four loaves of wheat bread, four loaves of banana bread, four loaves of french bread and a large pan of cream mint brownies. I did it today because I knew I had time and it would last throughout the week as company came in and out! We had spaghetti, salad and bread for dinner.
Wednesday, February 9th
Big Mister worked Monday and Tuesday but took the rest of the week off and would not return to work until February 15th. Breakfast for our guests was simple. We had toast with homemade peach jam, cantaloupe, grapes, bananas and oranges.
Big Mister's brother, Mike, his wife and son left Houston Wednesday morning. They got about 100 miles out of town and their car broke down. His boss said he'd fly them in from San Antonio if they could not get the car repaired. Turns out they needed a new alternator and they were able to locate one and get the repair in a town close by. (Easier said than done). They were back on the road within a few hours. What a blessing.
Big Mister and his brother, Marty, went to lunch at LJ's Pizza in Mesa in honor of their dad's favorite pizza. I traveled along and while they were eating I went to the Distribution Center to pick up special clothes to lay dad to rest in.
Wednesday evening was easy as most of our company was at mom's house going through pictures to display and to scan for a slide show. A nice lady from mom's previous Ward brought in enough dinner for all those that were there. We kept the two younger cousins that are our kids ages and they played hard!
Our kids were in school all week, we only had them out of school on Friday for the funeral.
Thursday, February 1oth
Breakfast was pancakes, turkey bacon and fruit. I had a busy work day and needed to catch up on a bunch of stuff before taking Friday for the funeral.
Mike and his family arrived safely from Houston about 10:oo am. Mike was just in time to meet his mom and siblings at the funeral home to dress dad at 11:00 a.m. That was a special experience for them.
I left the house around noon to pick up some pictures of dad that I had printed for display at the viewing and funeral. I also ran by Walmart for a few last minute groceries as we would host dinner again Friday evening after the funeral. I then met several family members for lunch at Matta's restaurant in Mesa. Another of dad's favorites. The workers there all knew dad and expressed their condolences. It was another yummy Matta's lunch!
While at Matta's I received a phone call from the school nurse. Little Mister would need to be picked up due to dizziness and fever. Because it was after 2:00 Big Mister went ahead and picked up Little Miss, too. Little Mister seemed fine and his temperature was 99 degrees so I didn't think too much about it.
Our home was the hang out for those that lived farther away (Queen Creek) and didn't want to drive home and all the way back in for the viewing. We sure had a houseful!
Dad's viewing began at 6:00 p.m. We got there just before it began and Big Mister ran across the street to CVS to pick up some Tylenol for Little Mister. We had a nice crowd of family and friends. It's always nice to see people we don't see very often. Dad looked really good and the kids did not mind seeing him in his casket. They liked touching his hair!
We left the viewing tired and hungry a little after 8:00 p.m. We brought home two extra kids (cousins), had a McDonald's snack and then put the kids to bed.
I also made four more loaves of french bread for Friday evening's dinner. I am baked out!
Friday, February 11th
Breakfast was cold cereal. Delicious, I know! Some of the kids ate bagels. We left the house around 8:30 a.m. so we could spend time with family before that final goodbye. It's always hard to say goodbye before the casket is closed for the last time. It was especially hard watching mom hug and kiss her husband for the last time. They had a special relationship full of love and tenderness.
The funeral was really nice. We all had to laugh at Dad's twin brother who delivered the life sketch. He had his dates all mixed up so cousins in the congregation would yell out the correction. Too funny. Maybe he should have just left out the dates as his talk was way too long at about 30 minutes. Big Mister represented all of the kids and delivered memories of their father. He did a great job.
The burial was nice and dad has a beautiful spot under a great tree. Mom purchased a plot where she will be buried as well. As customary, we returned to the church for a luncheon prepared by the Relief Society. They had chicken salad croissants, all kinds of salads, fruit platters, vegetable trays and two kinds of cake. We took a lot of pictures of dad's siblings, children, cousins and mom's siblings. Someday I'll get to them and maybe post some.
I was really glad that the R.S. did not serve the ever familiar ham and funeral potatoes. Why? Because Big Mister's co-workers all pitched in and purchased a Honey Baked Ham that they had delivered to our home on Thursday. It was a huge ham so I immediately planned to serve that for dinner with funeral potatoes, salad and bread.
After the luncheon we hurried home to make the potatoes, warm the ham, clean up, set up, etc. Big Mister's niece had her 16th birthday Saturday, so her mom made her favorite birthday cake for dessert. Big Mister's family, including an Aunt and Uncle, began arriving around 6:00. Once dinner was over my sister-in-law opened up a board game for several family members to play. Dad loved board games, especially Monopoly.
It was a long day and we were all ready for bed that night!
Saturday, February 12th
Breakfast was simple again, leftovers. Bagels, ham, cereal, toast, fruit...whatever. Big Mister and the kids plus our house guests spend most of the day visiting with all of their family members at mom's house. Mom's brother from California was there so they all enjoyed catching up with him, too. I had the house to myself for quite a while and spent most of the time cleaning and doing laundry. It was nice to be able to catch up!
Melissa left for the airport at noon. Mike and his wife left for Houston about 3:00. Late in the afternoon Marty and his family came back to pack up and then waited at mom's house for their birthday girl. The 16 year old birthday girl and her older sister were set up on a blind date by their "old" Mesa friends. This was her first date so she was pretty excited! Their family headed back to Houston after the date at about 10:00 p.m. What a grueling 20+ hour drive. They all made it back home just in time for Valentine's Day.
While we love company and all the family events, it's always nice to have our house back and life settling down a bit.
Little Mister didn't flinch a bit. He was all over the fireworks and wanted to light each one.
