“When one person is missing, the whole world seems empty.”? Pat Schweibert
Ol’ Dave lived down the street, and after he lost his wife, we kind of adopted him. He went everywhere with us, like an older brother but indeed a best friend. Sue would cook for him, asking what Dave liked. Sue made sure he joined us on all holidays and made unique plans for his birthdays. One year, she arranged to have Dave (and Mitch) go to the local race track and drive a real race car several laps around the track. She pushed him many places and convinced him to enjoy life even though he was sometimes grumpy. Sue never thought of herself; it was always her job (which she relished) to make sure everyone else was doing OK. The woman indeed had a heart of gold and was kind to all.
Celebrating Easter at Disneyland with Dave
It’s now Tuesday and another day at home! That’s OK; I am getting a lot of little things done around the house. I enjoy the small projects. The guest bedroom is not complete yet but it is getting there. The only thing remaining is to empty the closet and move the wine cart to the garage, a task I am going to attempt today!
Wake up time was 6:30 AM, I have no idea what happened except I did walk about three miles yesterday but never left the property. The pedometer map shows a big blur in one single spot, so I guess those trips to the garage and back added up!
Today I changed-out batteries in several devices. I have rechargeables everywhere, and it was time to recharge them! Now the fan, the electronic measuring device, and the portable radio are back in operation!
Time for breakfast, and I did my protein thing! Tomorrow I am going to try to bake the eggs inside a half-avocado! The recipe looked interesting.
Sue and I have had these egg-rings for 30+ years as we used to make breakfast sandwiches all the time
Dear Dad,
I want to thank you for all those hours you spent with me teaching me about tools, and woodworking, plumbing, masonry, and metalworking, and yes, even electrical things. When I do things around the house, I now have time to think to myself, “How did I know how to do that? I never went to school to learn how to do that!”
It was all you and the times we worked together. We built the patio, and we put in a water line from the street, we put in new doors, we wired the new washroom, we put in new toilets, we fixed faucets, we reshingled the roof of our house, we built long brick walls, we even overhauled a car engine!
You were an excellent teacher, patient, and so knowledgable about so much. You could fix anything; you could make anything; you were truly amazing. To this day I have no idea how you dealt with my red-hair temper! I must have been a real pain but you never let on.
I want you to know that your time spent with me was passed on to your grandson, Joe. Joe reminds me of the times he and I spent together repairing brakes, building dune buggies, making the two-story playhouse, and even building a patio. He is now passing those lessons on to your great-grandsons, Charlie and Alex.
Dad, I want you to know that I still have the little toolbox you gave me when I was about ten, and I have the drill, the brace and bit, and a couple of the screwdrivers. The hammer broke years ago along with the pliers. I look at it almost every day as it sits in the garage, and I think of you!
Like Mom, Jan was very supportive of the time Joe and I spent together, and I thank her for that.
So, here is a “shout out” (it’s something people do today?) to you and a loving thanks for the hundreds of hours we spent together preparing me for life.
I love you, Dad!
OMG! The letter I sent to Boeing about Sue’s passing and getting the retirement things worked out finally was received by them, after nearly twenty days of being “lost in the mail.” I found this out this morning while going through my email!
Most of the day was spent cleaning the Master Bedroom, hiding wires, putting up pictures, and re-installing the security camera system high on the wall. No more of those evil dust-bunnies under the bed.
My HelloFresh package arrived! The best thing about this is the training I get from going through the steps! Once I make it with their ingredients, I can remake it (perhaps modified) using my techniques and little changes!
The items below I hand-selected from a much larger menu on-line. I can order up to three weeks ahead of time.
I am going to cook up a storm!
I was not hungry because breakfast was filling, so I heated my lemon salmon from a few days back and had that for dinner. Tomorrow I will likely do leftovers as I am planning to play golf with Charlotte.
Charlotte and Sue were great friends, and we played golf together at least fifty times in the last 15 years! She was my best teacher and I will use her skills again tomorrow!
6:00 PM and time to get Mike and Bridgette checked out on Zoom. I invited them and also Bob Z, and we chatted for 45 minutes. Great fun! We are going to attempt to get all the dancers onto Zoom! Some will be a challenge.
Good to see Mike and Bridgette again!
Our meeting was over at 6:50 PM, and I had another family meeting at 7:00 PM. I want to thank the kids for being so supportive of me during the period of time in my life. Their on0line visits mean a lot especially since we are tied to home base due to the virus going around. Tomorrow we will add Michele and then we are 99% complete, and 99% is not too bad!
No one had an agenda, so we just talked for 45 minutes! We had Colleen, me, Pete & Lisa, Joe & Amy and the boys, and Robin & Bob.
After the meetings, I watched two episodes of “Anne with an E,” which was excellent. Anne got out of trouble with the town by helping save a neighbor’s home from burning to the ground!
Off to bed at 10:40 PM for a little more TV and then to sleep. Going to bed alone is not easy, but the TV helps, and I have a timer on it, so it turns itself off after an hour. I talked to Sue for a few minutes which helps!
