Sunday, July 22, 2012

A Short Update

It's been a busy week and it continues to be busy.

My uncle Ted died after complications arising from several surgeries in a short space of time.  He was laid to rest yesterday. We will miss him.  Mom and I were talking about how quickly he slipped from our lives.  We only found out 7 weeks ago that he had colon cancer and then we waited for his surgery.  Sadly, he did not make it through the surgery even though initially it looked like he would.  I think most of the family is still in shock about the speed of events.  I am happy a brother and I made a point to visit him (well) before his surgery date because we had been told he might not make it. It was nice to see him smile and hear him laugh and see how much he was looking forward to getting back to normal.

The reason it's been a bit hectic here is I had to help mom put some words of remembrance together for her brother and we don't live in the same city.  I also had to put my own remembrances together and look after my niece who is visiting at the same time.

Nothing seemed to be working right with the technology.  My cousin who was trying to receiving the document the day before delivering the eulogy, couldn't open the document and kept missing me by phone to tell me.  The next day, when she reached me I was asked to save the document in a different format.  The problem/challenge was that the night before I'd splashed some iced tea on my computer keyboard which made it stop working.  I wasn't even able to log onto the computer as some of the keys on the keyboard worked but others didn't.

I was feeling flustered and was under a time crunch.  I had to remind myself several times to stay calm.  I also had to pray for help and for everything to work as it should.  My dinosaur laptop helped me.  Even though it is extremely slow and needed updating, I was at last able to get it to work and reformat the document before sending it off.


I mentioned that I was so busy and flustered because my niece has been visiting for several weeks and we've been very busy. She is  not functional on her own so that means I need to do everything for and with her and so the document and technology issues were happening while I was trying to get her groomed and fed before we left the apartment.

I had a lot of fun with my niece and I think she had fun too. I took a lot of photos and my brother printed some of them today so I could place them in a photo album.  My brother also made a video for my niece of her birthday party (she loves to celebrate birthdays) and some of her other favourite things, Snowbird jets and helicopters. She loved the video and "begged" to see it again before bed time tonight!

While she was here we went to see "Mary Poppins", a live musical.  I was surprised to see a lot of adults there without children.  Even men attended the show. My niece said said she enjoyed it better than "Beauty and the Beast" which we saw years ago. I think she only said that because she is more "grown up" now and thinks "Beauty and the Beast" is for kids.  As I remember, she LOVED "Beauty and the Beast", and so did I. 


My niece's visit has come to an end but I may have another out of town visitor though he and his wife won't be staying at my guests. I do hope they have time to squeeze in a visit.

Just in case you don't hear from me for awhile, please know that I am catching up with work and appointments.  But I will be by to visit you as soon as I can. Have a wonderful week.

13 comments:

Jo said...

Once again, Penny, sorry to hear about your uncle. It did happen very quickly. And yes, it's always heartening to know that we made that "last" effort to see someone although we don't know at the time that it's the last time. Bless you for caring for your mom, aunts, uncle and your niece and nephews. Have a wonderful week. (((Hugs))) Jo

Denise said...

I love you dear friend, praying for you, and your entire family.

Farida said...

Quite a hectic day for you eh? But I'm sure things will be "normal" again soon. I hope you disabled niece enjoyed the time she had while you took her out. Thanks for sharing so many things. By the way, the flowers from your previous post are gorgeous! I can't stop myself from praising them :D

sonia a. mascaro said...

I am sorry to hear about your uncle. So sad... It did happen very quickly indeed...
My deeply condolences to all the family.

Diane said...

Sorry to hear the sad news, but I think going quickly had its advantages for the person concerned. I have seen too many people die slowly from cancer in extreme pain and I would not wish it on anyone. I do know though that a sudden death leaves everyone behind in shock. My thoughts are with you all. I hope that you have a better week with less fluster and stress. Take care Diane

Vicki Boster said...

Penny-- I'm sorry for your loss and for the hectic time you've had of late. You are a wonderful person to care for your niece and show her such a good time--- another star in your crown. I hope things calm down for you soon---

Your flowers are gorgeous!!
Xo
Vicki

Joanne Noragon said...

Absolutely too busy. Hope the pace slows. Thanks for taking time for the lovely flowers.

Anonymous said...

Penny,
I'm very sorry for your loss. I'm hoping you will have calm days ahead. You have a good head on your shoulders I believe. You have patients a loving heart and faith. Good qualities.
Have a good rest of your day.
Pat

KT said...

I am glad you were able to visit your uncle before the surgery; cancer continues to frustrate me.

Mary Poppins would be an interesting musical to see...Chim Chim Cher-ee...I suppose I'll have to go get that one from the library - it's been a while!

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

So sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your uncle. My condolences.
How lucky to have fun times with your niece. I imagine that many of those adults you mention grew up with Mary Poppins.
That's what gave them the incentive. It was the kid in them.
HUGS

Brenda Green said...

Dear Friend,
Wow, what a week you had my dear. I can't imagine what people do with out Jesus!!!!
I'm glad that the letter for the funeral went through, and I'm glad that the laptop was working so things eventually got taken care of. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the show!!!!
Please get some much needed REST!!!
love, me

Brenda Green said...

Friend,
I am so sorry for the loss of your Uncle!!!!! I am so glad that you had a chance to visit and see him before he died. That's a nice way to always remember your Uncle!
me

Pat said...

I'm sorry to hear of your Uncle Ted's relatively sudden death. It's good you were able to visit with him earlier. It sounds like the visit with your niece was lots of fun.

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