Monthly Archives: April 2011

No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow. 
~Euripides

I wrote this post nearly three weeks ago on the 10th.  It kinda gives you some updates as to what happened that week. I have more updates (not about the same subject) that I’ll get up next week to bring you completely up to speed with my life. Well, at least the huge things.

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Wrote on Sunday, April 10th as I was flying from Seattle to St. Louis for my father-in-law’s funeral:

So the last week has been pretty tumultuous for us. Saturday the 2^nd, we were told we could finally sign on our house. The sellers were kind enough to allow us to take possession of the keys but since the house would not officially close until Monday, we could not live there until then.

That helped because Huzzy started boat duty on Sunday and started working LONG hours. As in 20 hour days with the addition of duty night every other night. For example, he went to work at 0300 on Thursday because they were putting the boat in dry dock and then was supposed to have duty watch that night and then would have to work the next day until 1800 or so.

We had two different guys on two different days (Saturday and then Sunday morning) help us move the heavy stuff. That was fantastic. However, I still was left helping to move heavy stuff that apparently my back/neck/shoulder wasn’t ready to move. I may have a bulging disc in my neck and I’m waiting on xrays to confirm it. Either way, my neck is sore as heck and feels stiff and unable to move properly. And the tingling in my fingers is back.

Anyway, we were supposed to close Monday. But in true Wuzzy household fashion, that of course didn’t happen. Someone somewhere screwed up what is a normal, everyday thing and the house didn’t close until Tuesday. That gave us two days to move out of the rental.

Now, you may have noticed in my second paragraph that I said Huzzy was “supposed to” have watch Thursday night. If you read my blog post Thursday, you know that his father had a massive heart attack and it wasn’t looking good. Apparently after the heart attack, they had a hard time getting him back and his brain was without sufficient oxygen for more than an hour.

They dropped his body temperature down to 93 to help combat the swelling of his brain and to give his body a chance to heal. Unfortunately, over the course of the next two days, he had a few cardiac arrests and by Saturday, his liver and kidneys started shutting down.

Luckily Huzzy was not out to sea and the command allowed him to fly home. We were up at 0200 Friday morning to get him to the airport. Let me just say here, I LOOOOOVE Southwest airlines. Did you know they have military fares? And not the “military fares” that many airlines have that are more expensive that normal prices.

Now, these military fares are probably not cheaper if you are able to book way in advance, but for those who need last-minute flights or the flights are expensive, this is perfect. We paid $480 roundtrip for Huzzy’s flight (and my subsequent one that I’m on as I type this) the night before he left, which included all taxes.  That was only $240 one way. And of course, as with all Southwest flights, these are fully changeable with no change fee and you only pay the fare difference if there is one. My flight two days later was the exact same price as his so I suspect the military prices don’t change much. And of course, you get to check two bags for free, which is an anomaly these days.

Anyway, Huzzy was able to be there with his brother when they had to make the hardest choice a son or daughter could… to remove life support and let their father go. He was not coming back and his body could not regulate its own functions, including his blood pressure. He left this world with his friends and family at his side and he did it very quickly after the support was removed. He was ready to go.

So that’s where we are right now. I’ve done this before. It’s been just a little more than six years since my own father died of a heart attack and I was left at the age of 22 being in charge of his entire estate and the funeral planning and everything. Because of that experience, I’m going to be able to help Huzzy and his brother as they deal with their own dad’s death and the subsequent events and things that have to be dealt with after this happens. Neither of them has really experienced a loss other than a grandfather, so this is something that is new to them.

I’m glad I’m going to be able to help them out and maybe alleviate some of the stress by being the one who gets everything organized and makes sure things are done and does all those little things and details that seem to slip by when you are dealing with immense grief. The funeral, or Celebration of Life, is going to take place on Thursday. I had figured it would be Tuesday or Wednesday so I bought plane tickets for Thursday but, again, that’s the beauty of Southwest… I’ll be able to change it no problem.

Speaking of alleviating stress… a certain blog follower of mine is helping me out. I put a call out on our boat’s FRG page asking if anyone could help me and watch our two dogs while I was gone. Several people responded but the person who is going to watch them, apparently, also participates in MilSpouse Friday Fill-In. Small world. I had no idea any of my followers were on the same boat. And apparently one of my Twitter peeps is also on our boat! Too funny.

P.S.
I was not paid for or solicited for my opinions on Southwest. I’m just extremely grateful for their service and for what they offer military.