Whirlwind

It’s been crazy since we’ve been home from our last trip. I don’t even know where to begin. And if the past month was a whirlwind, I wouldn’t even know what to call the last week and a half. We’re currently in the hospital; everything is okay. Amanda had a procedure that was planned at our last Houston checkup. She had the remaining four sternal wires in her chest removed. 

Just as we left for Colorado last month, my mother’s health began to decline, and she became bed-bound. She passed away last Wednesday, and as hard as it is to say, it was for the best. She had been wanting to go ever since my dad passed last January, and she was in pain with her spirit broken after becoming bed-bound. 

Since she passed on a Wednesday, we decided to have the celebration of life not the following Saturday but the next one, which was Easter weekend. I was already going to be off for Amanda’s procedure today, and we thought some would be in town for the holiday weekend. I spent the remainder of the week taking care of things with the estate, meeting with people to help me plan to take care of things, and just processing. The following week would be a crazy one. We had to make a few San Antonio runs; Amanda had a check-up with one doctor and an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon for a second opinion on her knee. We also had to grab many things for the service on a second trip to SA. 

The following Wednesday, Amanda had her usual Wednesday night program. Thursday would be a cooking trial run of some of Mom’s favorites from the restaurant and more grocery shopping. Amanda also had a hair appointment, which is 3hrs long, and a chiropractor appointment. I needed to get spiffed up before the service, too, so I hit the barber. Good Friday is when we have the biggest outreach event of the year, a glow-in-the-dark easter egg hunt and program. This is Amanda’s baby, so she needed to be there to get things rolling. I am proud of her for getting things going and leaving for a bit, though. She was also making Mom’s rolls, 12 dozen to be exact! In the mix, we were selling my mom’s van and getting another vehicle for us. This was to loosen up some funds to help with the considerable expenses I was left with that the estate couldn’t cover. 

Saturday started early and was crazy; we were getting ready for the service that afternoon. Amanda put together a great team to help in the kitchen. Usually, I’d have led the kitchen team, but Amanda didn’t want me to have to mess with that. Don’t think I didn’t make it to the kitchen, though. I was busy getting things outside done, but I did have a few things to take care of in the kitchen. We left to take showers and get ready for the service, and then it was go time once we got back. I took a quick break to rehearse the eulogy with no one around. It didn’t help too much; I still got choked up delivering it, always in the same spot. Oddly, when I got to the part about the downtown property, I guess I just had too many memories there. 

Once I was up for my kitchen, I was running behind on time. This was fun for a bit, the fast-paced kitchen environment, which is what I miss so much about the restaurant business. We had a great team in the kitchen, some old help we’d had work with us over a decade ago. 

I love planning; it’s a gift I love to use. Amanda is also great at it, and we are a killer team. So, we planned the entire service ourselves. Amanda has also planned and helped with many funerals, working at the church. We found not just a ton of pictures but a ton of new paper and magazine articles, even an old evening news broadcast with a great interview of Mom at her fine-dining restaurant on the back porch of my father’s cattle ranch in Louisiana. 

The reception was just as good as the service. We had over 30 food items spread all over the house so everyone could mingle and eat wherever they were. We made crowd favorites from the restaurant, including the rolls, bread, and banana pudding in shot glasses, to name a few from the bakery department, which is all Amanda. Along with those, I did some roast beef tri-tip, and some of Mom’s crab tortas, and I deep-fried a few of the hors d’oeuvres. The service and reception made for a great send-off.

Then, there was Easter service at church to get ready for. So, after the celebration of life, Amanda had to practice with the worship team, and I needed to get things back to the church we’d borrowed for the service. Packing for the Houston trip that night would follow. Then, on top of getting ready for Easter service that morning, we had a bad battery in the new vehicle! So, with nothing open on the holiday, I took the battery out of my Suburban to get us on the road. I did this between morning practice and service in my Easter Sunday best. At least I took my sports coat off. After service in the church parking lot, I put the battery in the new-to-us vehicle; then we were off to Houston!

As crazy as all that sounds, I left out many other things that happened. Many of which were oh-so frustrating; maybe I was just on edge. Most of this craziness was crammed into a really long weekend! It is always 90 or nothing with us; we’re gluttons for punishment, I guess! The busyness helped keep my mind off Mom’s passing, which helped me process it.

That gets me to the procedure Amanda had today. She’s doing good; they are just managing the pain now. She’ll be staying overnight as a precaution for being a transplant patient. I’ll post more details on all of what is happening with her tomorrow.