Today we remember...

Dear Family and Friends,

We remembered mom (Nan) today all day. Jason arrived this morning and then we drove to Livermore to have lunch with Nikki. It was a solid, good experience with lots of discussion about mom, remembering her strengths, her fun moments, her courage, her faith.

After lunch Jason and I drove back to the cemetary where we placed Red Roses on moms grave and spend some time remembering her life, her ways, your classy approach, her intense love for her kids and their kids, her determination when faced with GIST and her steady faithfulness as the end came.

Like many of you our lives have been blessed and shaped by our contact with a faithful wife, mother, grandmother, friend. In your relationships you have helped shape each other too. It is a reality of living, of marriage, of a walk together through the years, school, travel, work, friends.

After Jason and I parted he to travel back to MBA and his family and for me a trip home to the office. I found both phones lines had totally failed. Vonage had quit. Shawn helped me locate a phone number and soon I was talking to a tech located somewhere on the east coast. He spoke perfect english, was patient and stayed with me for about 30 minutes as we moved the Vonage router from being last in line to the first in line, directly out of the modem, then to the wireless router, then to the 10/100 switch. He also tested the signal coming from the cable line, it was terrible. He was very glad that the cable guy is coming soon. But in the in between time he did some bandaids there and I have working lines now, clear and functional. I was so grateful to a tech department that takes customer satisfaction seriously.

Then it was time to drive to the gym by Keanna's school and save three seats. The concert was great and the little kids sang their hearts out. Of course it was a Winter Concert, not a Christmas Concert and even though the tunes were of carols the words were non religious so as to not offend anyone. That's how it is now and the concert was a huge success. Then I sped over to the grief group which was in progress and had a delightful time with some very precious people. The food was perfect, the conversations range from life to death and everyone enjoys the opportunity to share and be heard.

Now I'm unwinding after a milestone day, a day of bittersweet reflection, a reliving of the loss and a sense that as long as the rest of us are still here we might as well make Nan proud and live well, live strong and love intensely. Nan would have liked the flowers, during the final year I kept fresh flowers going most of the time, she liked them and to me they said life, beauty and good living. Now she has her roses tonight. Sweet baby we all love you and know you sleep in God's arms for now.

love

tim