Partners…

One of the nicest things about marriage is the partnership. Once…a few weeks back…I was getting ready to leave Lodi West when I saw that Ron was engrossed in a TV program. He asked me to stay, and when I asked why, he said companionship. The comfort of the company of someone you really know…I guess that’s what long-married couples do. They may be talked-out at times but just the prescense of the other is a part of their lives. I think that is what devestated me so much while Ron was recovering…he wasn’t here.

Today another one of the amenities of marriage happened. Yesterday was a bad day. Pearl and then Ron sat on our family room futon and it collapsed. The kitchen sink and dishwasher backed up and water wouldn’t drain…spilled out on the floor from the dishwasher hose. I came home today and Ron had called a plumber and the backup was fixed and he’d loaded the dishwasher and run a load. The things we take for granted sometimes….
We will still have to go out and buy a replacement futon frame if we can’t fix the old one. But every day I come home and find work has been done and my companion is here to greet me.

A family weekend…

We almost had a complete family get together on Sunday…and if Pearl had gotten off work a few hours earlier and Carol was able to put off her afternoon appointment, it would have happened. Carol came in around 11:30 while I was visiting…I ran home to get Alexis, Garrett (our yellow lab), and a newly aquired white banty chicken. Brought the menagere back and visited with Ron under the awning of an outside patio. Then he and Alexis went in for lunch (he ate, she watched), while Carol and I ran the animals home. In the meantime Pearl got off work early and left Reno at noon. Ron had a rest after lunch, so I took the girls out for sushi and then we said goodbye to Carol. As I was driving back to Lodi West after dropping Alexis off at home, I called Pearl who said she was just heading down Davis Road and – whoosh! She passed me, heading for home, so I turned around and we both went to see her dad. We visited for several hours and watched “The Last Mimsey.” A very relaxing day, remeniscent of days spent at home just talking and enjoying each others’ company. And in only two weeks (more or less) we’ll all be back together again.

Family fun in days past…

Carol emailed some photos taken over the past year or so.

Ron and Pearl visiting the Exploritorium in San Francisco.

The full family just before Pearl headed off to California Culinary Academy.

Lexi and fantasy friend and dad at D-Land.

Look-alike Dad and Daughter as Mousekateers.

Tiny bits of happiness…

Some days you wake up and have a bad day…mine began yesterday and kept on going until this afternoon when Lexi called me to the back yard with something VERY important. Our feral chicken had decided to hatch a brood in Garrett’s dogpen. Her logic is impeccable – catproof with a large furry dog to protect her and her babies. Ron and the girls and I are suckers for baby chicks…and these must have just hatched today. Little miracles bring joy….

I’m off to the hospital in a few minutes…depending on how late I get in, may not post an update until tomorrow.
PS – Evelyn, if you want to bring J and Amani by, feel free to just drop in. They will love the babies.

Rolling on the river…

Kathy Newell sent me this photo from a raft trip we took last summer. Ron and a raft full of women (me, Alexis, Kathy, and Clarissa – who took the photo). A good memory – too bad we all got burned (hey, the lotion kept washing off – that’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it).

On hold…

Today is Alexis’ fifteenth birthday. May 26, 1992….nine months earlier I had returned from a trip to cover the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ron gave me a wonderful welcome home…resulting in our little “oopsie” baby.

Today was not just a celebration of our youngest getting another year older….it is a bittersweet day. Today is day seventeen after Ron drifted through a stop sign just down the road from the house as he drove to work – and was hit by an oncoming SUV. Today is day seventeen of lying in intensive care, unresponsive to the world around him. Day seventeen of no dad…no husband.

I’ve been emailing updates to friends and family…but keep getting calls from people as they hear of his plight. Hence this blog to update everyone. It is difficult for me to tell people about what happened and how he is doing…writing it down is much easier.