Back From San Diego

The Memorial

God saw that you were getting tired,
and a cure was not to be.
So He put His arms around you,
and whispered, "Come with Me."
With tearful eyes we watched you suffer,
and saw your life fade away.
Although we love you dearly,
we could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating;
hard working hands to rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us,
He only takes the best.

Rest in peace, Michelle

Thank you to everyone who sent condolences. It really means a lot to me. I got back from San Diego late last night and I have to say it was a fantastic trip. I have five brothers and sisters and the last time we all got together at the same time was my Dad's funeral which was about twenty years ago. We've all seen each other here and there but not all at the same time. It's too bad it takes a death in the family to accomplish that. I think I'm going to try and see if we can all get together for some kind of family reunion every few years anyway.

My family from left to right, Jolene, Cathy, George, Donny, Joyce, Rick, Me & Art


The Service for Michelle (my sister-in-law) was Sunday at 2:00 and was very sad but it was really nice to see all the people that did come to celebrate her life and offer my brother Art their support. After the service we all went to her brother Eddie's house for food and drink. My sister Cathy had to be at the airport by 5:00 so we weren't there that long. After we dropped Cathy off we headed up to my sister Joyce and her husband Rick's house where I was staying. My brother George and his wife Jolene followed behind. My brother Donny stayed with Art.

One of the things I miss about San Diego is the food. I was born and raised there so I grew up on Mexican food. I really have to have it when I visit there. Another thing I miss is In-N-Out Burger. It's a greasy, yummy burger and I just had to have one of those too. They're only located in California, Nevada and Arizona and it's been a whole year since I've had one. Some people don't understand the big deal about it but I guess it's the same as having to have a Krispy Kreme doughnut or a Starbuck's coffee (which I also LOVE).


YUMMY!!!


On Monday everybody came over to Joyce's house. She fixed some really good fajitas with all the trimmings. We all had a good time reminiscing about our childhood. We are a very animated group anyway but throw in some alcohol and we got pretty loud. It was a great stress reliever and I definitely think it did a world of good for Art. His daughter took away his keys and told Joyce not to let him leave so Donny and Art stayed at Joyce's house that night too.

Honestly, more pictures of food for you Jolene. (HA HA)


A good time was had by all....


Tuesday Jolene woke me up at 8:00 to say good-bye as she and George were leaving for the airport. After they left I went out on the patio where everybody was having coffee and Joyce told me to look up in the tree. Right off her patio is this medium sized tree. I looked up and there was a HUGE owl looking right back at me. It looked like a fake owl but then his eyes blinked. HOLY COW!!! I was only about three feet away from him! He had already been up there for quite some time and stayed for about another half hour.


Wednesday Joyce took me to Art's house. I stayed there for a little bit and then he took Donny and I to the airport. Donny flew with me as he lives in the Seattle area. We got in at 5:30pm and had to wait for Rod to pick us up. Rod and I dropped Donny off at his home and then dropped off Rod's mom's car at her house at about 9:30 pm. We visited with her for a little bit and then headed home. We were home at 10:30 and had to open the gate. It closes at 8:00 pm now. We had to unlock the little office and locate the remote. That was interesting as we had never had to do that before so we didn't even know what we were looking for. We finally found it, opened the gate and locked up the office. As we were getting back in the truck the gate shut! Good grief. Went back in the office, opened the gate AGAIN and quickly drove the truck through before locking up the office again.

It was a great visit but it's always so nice to get home and sleep in your own bed. Today it's raining and 59 degrees. Yesterday in San Diego it was sunny and 95 degrees.