Hi, everyone! I'm back! It has been quite a few days. Settle in and I'll tell you about it. Feel free to skip if you want to.
First of all:
Sheryl - I'm praying for your princess. How scary not to know what's going on!
Newbies - Welcome to our family! It's great to see new faces popping up!
Pixie dust to everyone else!
Ok, here's the ride I promised you:
Friday night, I took Alan to a restaurant for his 40th birthday. His family were all going to be there. On the way, we stopped at the hospital to visit his niece, Carissa. She'd been put back in the hospital and her prognosis wasn't looking too good. We visited with her, and we could tell that it was very bad. She has Down's Syndrome, and is a real ray of sunshine. She would smile at everyone, and never complained about being in pain. When we saw her, she was crying, and really looked like she was in pain. The doctor's found some kind of fungus in her lungs, along with about 22 years worth of food that she has been aspirating all her life.
After our visit, we went to the restaurant and had a great time. There were a bunch of guys there in drag, with their buddy who was getting married. My SIL asked if they would come over and sing to Alan. It was hysterical! I've never seen my husband turn so red!!!! I've got a picture. I'll try to remember to post it soon!
The next morning, we loaded up the van to take my mother home. It was an uneventful drive, and we got her home safe and sound. We relaxed the rest of the day, and visited with my brother and his family. So much fun! My dad returned from his trip to Turkey and Greece that night, so it was fun to see him and catch up a little before we all collapsed into bed.
Sunday morning, we woke up to the phone ringing. It was Alan's brother, telling us that his sister was asking everyone to get to the hospital right away. Carissa's internal organs had all shut down, and they didn't expect her to last very much longer. We were 4 hours away, and knew that if we had to pack up all the kids we'd never make it in time. Alan dressed quickly, and took off. He called when he got to the hospital and said it was so sad! Carissa was being kept alive on machines, and they were trying to hold out until her brother could get there from London. After about 3 hours, they decided that it wasn't fair to Carissa, to keep her alive like that. They all surrounded her bedside (there were 22 people with her), and sang all her favorite hymns. The doctors unhooked her from the machines, and about 2 minutes later, she slipped away, very peacefully. Alan said that it was a beautiful thing to see, even thought it was very sad. His sister is really having a hard time (understandably), but feels at peace with everything.
Her funeral will be on Tuesday morning (it's Spring Break here, and her folks wanted to give her friends time to get back so they can attend). It will be sad, but beautiful! Carissa was so loved!
Since there was nothing much we could do for the family, Alan came back to us, and we continued with our vacation. It was hard to break the news to the kids, but in a way, I think that dealing with our pet's death the week before really prepared them.
So, there's my story. I'm glad to be home, and looking forward to some normal cooking in the next few days!
