Somewhat sadly we did not hurry to Ontario for dad's funeral. This was a tough decision for Bob to make. He is feeling so much better but mostly mentally and emotionally. The physical is still challenging most days. As we considered what the trip entailed, we thought that getting there and needing to be in bed for a couple of days would be to hard on everyone. Bob is blessed to know that many, many people attended the memorial to honour his dad. We saw dad in Oct. just as Bob was beginning to take the pomolyst. That had been a great visit. Dad had been reasonably well and we were able to help Reta prepare their home for dad and meet with many health care people who were beginning the journey with dad. Reta is doing well. She has had a friend with her most of the last three weeks.
God blessed us with hmmmm--- a mini wake the Thurs. before Dad's memorial. Bob has cousins in the city whom we do not see---only rarely!!!!! Ernie Hildebrand"s dad John (Anne) passed away just before Christmas. Marlene Hildebrand"s dad Dick (Mary) passed away a couple of weeks before dad. Mary was dad's sister. Dick and Mary lived in the Austin area of MB. Mary had passed away, I believe, a couple of years ago. Ernie's folks lived in Beamsville ON. Anne is still living in Beamsville. A number of folks who follow this blog know these folks and connections hence the bit of genealogy. For those who do not know the genealogy yes Dick and Mary did have the same name. Mary always was a Hildebrand . =)
Marlene and Ernie came to have dinner with us. We had a super time with them. Hopefully we will try and connect more frequently. The three cousins talked about their parents and what they remembered about their aunts and uncles. Bob and I learned a lot about the family that we did not know and had never heard before. Part of this because Ernie and Marlene were both born in Paraquay and either remember and or have heard the stories from their parents over the years. Most of the family resettled in Ontario. Bob's dad was the only one of the family who had not moved to Paraquay. Slowly the family all came back to Canada other than two brothers who eventually made their fortunes in South America. This evening of visiting was a very special time for us.
Bob has had a good couple of months. He doesn't need to nap as much. We go out walking again. We walked to church last week. That would be about 5 to 6 city blocks. Sheesh that hardly seems far now. Bob has received a few calls from his former work site plus he was out for one afternoon which he enjoyed. We went out to a concert. Bob was glad when it was over!!!! The two hours of sitting got long towards the end. He goes for coffee with a few different guys. He doesn't call Tim Horton's his office yet but does occasionally go to our friends office at Timmie's. We are enjoying this time together. It is like a real normal soooo that means getting use to retirement. We haven't had doctor appointments or tests these past weeks so it truly is an adjustment. Pray with us that the protein numbers have not shot up. Should the case be that the numbers stayed low and show no spike Bob may continue on with only the two chemo drugs. The infusion once a month and the dex once a week, that make life a sweet redemption.
Bob is now hurrying to his next birthday. On Thurs he will be 68. We praise God for each one of those years. There was a time at the beginning of this journey I believed he would not celebrate his 60th birthday. These birthdays do come along faster and faster each year.
Some great things about getting older:
*closed-captioning makes the evening news seem like an exotic foreign movie.
*you will probably be among the first hostages to be released.
* Handicapped parking spaces.
*You always get the comfiest chair in the room
LATER!!!!!
