Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The 90s are back

How strange is it that all the things from the 90s are cool again?
I'm sitting here re-watching Friends, the entire series from front to finish.
I giggle at some of the flowery outfits.  And I laugh because plaid and flannel are cool again.
And I still have a few of my favorite flannels.  I'm vintage now.
I just wanted to record this moment because what was old is new again, and what was cool in high school and college for me, which has become just comfortable, is now coming out cool again.
Now I'm off to go watch Friends, sit here in my flannel shirt, with my hair in a scrunchy, like the last 20 years haven't happened at all.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

UB

My Uncle Bob passed away last weekend.  As everyone around me was bouncing with Joy because of Halloween, and a sugar high, I was eating my feelings, and wondering why the world continued to spin with him gone.  He was my favorite Uncle for a long long time.  He did not understand my side when I was having trouble with my Grandma and Mom, but that didn't make me love him any less.   I understood his Loyalty.  He was a loyal family man, one of his most outstanding qualities.  It was one of the things I loved most about him.  That I lost touch was my own doing.   Still, I got to see him, and laugh with him a bit in May at Grandma's funeral, and we saw him at Robbie's wedding.  Though, apparently, shortly after Robbie's wedding, he was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer.  It's a nasty one.  He'd felt bad in the days leading up to the wedding, but he attributed it to Stress.  But when he went in, they discovered otherwise.  He began chemo, but kept it a secret from me, because he didn't want me to "put it on facebook".   That hurt.  But it was what he wanted, and I respect that.  I didn't put it out there, I didn't ask my army of prayer warriors to pray for him with me.  Still, I kept praying.  Apparently, there were a number of folks who hadn't realized how sick he was.  That was heartbreaking, it seemed to sneak up on all of us.


The last time I saw him was at Robbie's wedding, that's him just on the other side of the aisle.  


And we got to have lunch with him and some other fam the next morning.  
That's how I prefer to remember him, happy and celebrating.  He was always one for a great time.  
His motto was "Never let the Truth get in the way of a good story."
He passed away in the wee small hours of Halloween morning.  But our family  waited until the following week.  We drove up on the 5th, the funeral was on the 6th, and we returned on the 7th.  


We stopped for lunch and a climbing break in Fort Wayne, at the old McD's that Li, Mommy, and I used to always stop at on our way north.  That made us smile.   


At the Viewing, the kids got to playing.  They always have a good time together.  That made us smile.  They are like Life, coming full circle.  I find having them at funerals to be a source of strength.  In other news, Sam's front tooth started getting Really loose.  


Back at the hotel, I managed to talk all three into baths at the same time instead of a bedtime swim.  Too crowded with crazy teens at the pool. 
It had been a long while since they'd done this, and honestly was probably the last one.  
They're getting a little tight to all fit in the same bathtub.  


My boyz clean up good.   
The kids actually did pretty well during the Service.  


After the Service, we went to one of Uncle Bob's favorite pubs, where the staff all knew him and loved him too, and we took over the spare room in back.  The kids were on pretty decent behavior.  
And they clean up pretty good.  This was the only shot I got the whole visit of all of them in the same place.  Moving Targets.  


Lisa and her Spartan socks.  
Uncle Bob was a huge MSU fan, and as it just happened, Lisa didn't bring socks, when I called and asked if anyone needed anything as I made a Meijer run, late Thursday night.   I found these at Meijer.  Only she could pull them off.  We found it to be the Perfect tribute.  
"Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion."

We went back to the hotel for naps after the service, we'd hoped to hook up with my extended family later that evening, but that didn't work out.   We popped over to Ikea for a fun break, and did some swimming at the hotel.  That destressed us.   I really hoped we'd get to spend time with them to sit around and tell tales, but the one who told the best tales was no longer with us.  I feel like this was the end.  I don't see us going back to Michigan anytime soon.


On a small plus side, Sam lost the last tooth on the way home.  
Looks like all this sweetie is going to want for Christmas is his Two Front Teeth.