Early Birthday

Posted on October 9, 2015

When I awoke this morning the creatures greeted me with, “Happy Birthday Mom!!” I smiled at them and said, it’s tomorrow guys. They told me that they wanted to celebrate it today since tomorrow is Jan’s funeral tomorrow, and thought perhaps it would be a happier day for me today. So thoughtful of them, what Angels. Danny and the creatures had been shopping and planning on this and I had no idea. My favorite gift is a ring with both Jan and Daddy’s birthstones in it.

I will wear it everyday and think of them always, as well as think of the love my family has for me.

This morning everyone seemed to be in a wrestling mood, and for a while the house seemed almost normal. Bodies were thrown around the room, people were pinned down and lay sweating, it was a blast.

Mommy and I went over to the funeral home to takes Jan’s clothing.

When we arrived I had a  heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach, knowing that my brother was inside. I just wanted to run in and hold him, kiss his head and tell him how much I miss him, but I know I don’t have to go anywhere at all to tell him that. He’s right here with me.

I went for my MRI and Danny thought it fitting to take a photo for the blog.

You can always tell it’s me by looking under my feet. If they are dirty, they are mine, because I intensely dislike wearing shoes. The doctor stuck a needle the length of the Eiffel Tower into my shoulder and I had to go to my happy place and block out the pain. He then injected 8 gallons of dye into it in preparation for the MRI. We went off to where the machine was and waited for cardiology to arrive so they could put my pacemaker into ‘safe’ mode for the test. Safe mode leaves me at a constant 80 beats per minute, which feels extremely high for my naturally extremely slow heart rate. The MRI took a total of an hour. It’s a good thing I’m not in the least bit claustrophobic,  as I lay there feeling like I could relate intimately to biscuit dough in a can…all tightly stuffed into a tube. I fell asleep and at one point the tech spoke to me over the speaker to wake me up because I was twitching in my sleep. The reason it took twice as long as it should have, is because my pacemaker was in the way and they had to get scans from all different directions to see around it. I will meet with the doc on Monday to find out results.

The evening was spent visiting with family and friends here at the house, as I wrote Jan’s life sketch. It was difficult for me to write a few lines to cover 47 amazing action packed years about a magnificent man. I recorded only a glimpse of it.

Now I must attempt to rest so I can be ready for the funeral tomorrow. I will wake early and prepare my talk. It’s going to be a difficult day.