So Much To Tell

I know, it's about time.  Sometimes this is so hard.  I was ready to write today but our power was off from 9:30am to 3 pm.  Now it is much later and I'm getting tired.  Just gave Walt some cheese soup because he dreamed about grilled cheese sandwiches.  It will come back up and cause him incredible pain, but he is not comprehending those things much these days.  He started on a very small dose of morphine on Monday.  He had to get off of the tylenol and ibuprofen because it was causing stomach pain.  Poor guy spends most of his day sleeping now.  Some of that is from the medication, but mostly its because he is not eating.  He is in his hospital bed now during the day.  Not at night.  He told me that if he was going to sleep there at night that I would have to be in there with him.  Have you seen how skinny those beds are?  
So, The Party!  It was wonderful.  I told everyone that if the party was the day before Walt wouldn't have been there.  It was a very bad day.  Saturday he got up and decided not to eat anything because it would cause him to have another bad day.  We got to the party at 1:15 and he made it to 4 pm.  So many friends and family.  The guest book was signed by 79 and I'm sure some missed signing.  Walt got to talk with so many that he hadn't seen in awhile.  We have lots of pictures that we will share.  The DVD that Amanda put together is so great.  We will add pictures from the party and send it off to those who want it.  
We had a houseful over the weekend.  Auntie Sharon came in on Monday so she was already here.  She gave up her room and slept on the couch so the Rodriguez family of 5 could have the bedroom.  Good thing they are all small (well, not Oscar).  David slept in Walt's man cave on the hospital bed (Walt hadn't been in it yet).  We had such a good time with our friends.  I have much to say about that, but it will have to wait.  I am going to attempt to post a couple of pictures here.

 Oscar wheeling Walt into the party. Love that smile. 

 Walt, Amanda and Dina

 David fixing breakfast

 Me and Sharon 

(clockwise) Walt, Nyah, Sharon, Oscar, Nari, Gavin (gotta get those grapes) Amanda, Me, & George

Dina is taking the picture, Thomas and Naleah are playing on the kindle in the other room. Where are you David?

Okay, I'm done for tonight.  Thanks for tuning in and for all of the continued prayers.  Love you all.  

Life Can Be Surprising

Thirty Eight years ago today Walt and I were blessed with a beautiful daughter (I can say her age because she in no way looks it). She is my best friend, my confidant, my helper (Walt is all of those things too, just in a different way).  I don't know how I would make it through all of this without her.  Not to mention the wonderful grandchildren she gave us.  They all make us so happy.
We are also blessed with two other children who came from far away to visit us this weekend.  I can't imagine a better reunion.  Even though life has kept us apart for many years we were able to connect in a special way.  Walt and I could recognize that Walter and Pam are making the best of this life.  They are people that we would be happy to call "friends" not just family.  What a great (all but to short) visit we had. We know the effort it took for them to come here.  We hope they know how much it meant to both of us that they made that sacrifice.  Hope to see them again.
We wanted to make our meeting this morning, but the effort is just too much for my puny guy.  So grateful to have it on the phone. Yesterday started out good, but by the end of the day he was not keeping anything down.  There is so much to look forward to this coming week.  Auntie Sharon arrives tomorrow from Hemet, Ca.  I haven't asked her how long she will be here because I don't want her to ever leave.  Oscar and Dina and girls fly in Friday from the Palm Springs area.  This will be a hard visit because they have to leave on Sunday and I will not want them to go.  They are very special to us and Walt is so happy they are coming.   His big "Going Away" party is on Saturday.  Our CO visit is this coming week and we are looking forward to a visit from brother Russo on Wed.  Busy times, but I've said it before, distractions are good.
Tragedy struck a couple of times last week.  Amanda's husband, George, lost his granny.  She might have been his granny, but she was so special to all of us.   She was caring and funny and we enjoyed her so much.  She will be missed, especially by Thomas and Gavin and Maddy and Austin.  She loved those kids and they loved her.
We also found out that Amanda's childhood friend, Sarah has cancer.  She is going to fight hard and we will pray for her daily to win her fight.
This life can be so hard. Not surprising because we are in the "last days".  We just have to stick together and encourage each other to keep going.  Thanks to all of you who are communicating with us through email.
Love to all.

Life Is An Attitude

That has always been my motto for life and Walt has adopted it pretty good.  Our god, Jehovah, has told us through the scriptures to be positive in our life.  Jesus said, in his sermon on the mount, that we could be "happy" in just about every circumstance.  So, here we are with a terrible diagnosis and yet again Walt is amazing the doctors and everyone else for that matter.  Where he should be at this point and where he is are very far apart.  I say "the power of prayer and a good attitude".  No, things aren't perfect and when I said to Walt this morning "maybe you will beat this too", he said "not this time", but he added, "I'm just going to do my best to stick around as long as it will let me".  What a guy. All credit goes to god for helping us to stay strong. Thanks again and again for talking to him in our behalf.
It helps that Walt has so much to look forward to, also. His children coming this weekend.  Auntie Sharon coming from Hemet, Ca. Best friends Dina and Oscar and their 3 beautiful daughters coming from Desert Hot Springs, Ca. The big party.  We have heard from many with stories about Walt.  He just loves reading them.  I have to share a couple.
Walt's "baby" sister Marlene sent this. "My favorite memory is when Walt had a paper route, think it was Cleveland Plain Dealer Sunday paper and I was probably 6,7 or 8 years old and Walt would've been 7 years older.  Anyway, I went into the living room in the early morning when he was folding his papers and with my tooth that I had under my pillow said, 'the tooth fairy didn't come' (probably crying because I was such a baby) and Walt told me to go back to bed because it was too early and maybe she would come yet.  Well before he went to deliver papers, he came into my bedroom and gave me a hug while I lay on my pillow and after he was gone, I checked and there were 10 pennies under my pillow.  That was when I realized that there wasn't really a tooth fairy but I had a big brother that loved me very, very much and could probably only dig up 10 pennies back in the 1950's!!!  That is my BEST memory because not many years after that he went into the Navy...."
Then big sister Nona comes up with this: She remembers the newspaper route and said Walt delivered for the Youngstown Vindicator in 1952 and said he sold the most subscriptions and WON a trip to Washington, DC and got to meet President Eisenhower!!! That is amazing and wondered if Walt remembered that trip to DC.
I wondered too, because I had never heard that story.  How are you married to someone for 41 years and not know that they once met a president?  I know Walt doesn't brag, but seriously? We have since figured out it was for the inauguration.  He says that when you are a teenager those things don't make that big of an impression.  I've said it before, Goofy man!
Here's your invitation.  Wish everyone could come.  Love to all.......

Wonderful News

Right now we are so excited we can hardly stand it.  Last night we found out the "big" kids are coming.  Walt's two children from his first marriage are going to be here the end of next week.  Walt is coming from Montana and Pam is coming from S. Calif.  Walt lived with us from age 8 to 18. I would like to say I raised him, but I didn't do a good job.  I was not a good stepmother, but he rose above it and became a good man.  He married a special lady and they have two cute kids. It's been a few yrs since we've seen him. We have not seen Pam since Walt's wedding 24 yrs ago.  I was not a stepmother Pam would want to be around so that's pretty much my fault.  From all appearances she has had a good life.  She invited us to her college graduation (we didn't go, long story).  She is a teacher and has 3 children.  We are very excited to see both of them.
We had quite a scare on Monday.  Walt went to take a nap in the afternoon.  Somehow his oxygen ended up on the floor next to the bed.  Because he wasn't getting his oxygen while he slept he went into what is called a hypoxic event. Almost like frying your brain.  He was very disoriented and acted like he had a stroke.  Scared the life out of me so I called the hospice nurse.  She was wonderful and explained what was happening.  The worst part was when she told me that there was a chance that he wouldn't come out of it. It was a difficult evening, but after a good night's sleep, he was his old self the next morning (whew!).  I think I've been ready for many scenarios, but not this one.
Not much is going into this poor guys body.  He is getting very weak and wobbly.  He now has a walker for maneuvering around the house.  He has taken several falls (once on that terrible Monday night when he was headed to the bathroom and ended up in the hall on the floor after hitting the wall with his head on the way down). He survived that one with minor bruises and scrapes, but we sure don't want to do that again.
We have received some great stories about Walt's growing up from his sisters.  Can't wait to share them. It's been fun for both of us to communicate with the far away family.
So, we made our last goal.  Walt made it to the annual meeting where we received our new bible.  What a blessing. We love being a part of an organization that is so progressive and takes the time to keep us informed in a language that is up to date and very readable.  Millions and millions of bibles printed and distributed free of charge.  You can see it at jw.org.
Next goal.  Make it to the kids visit and then the big party.  Please keep us in your prayers.  It's the best we can do for each other.  We love you all.

Mornings With Walt

Mornings are good.  Walt is still sleeping good and feels his best when he wakes up.  He (usually) gets up before me.  When I wake up I love to stay in the bed and read.  I just tried to remember how long its been that Walt brings me my first cup of coffee, but I can't, it's been that long. Every morning he listens for signs that I am awake (I'm usually running for the bathroom). He comes down the hall with two cups in hand and sits on the side of the bed and we talk.  We started a new routine a few days ago.  Still with the coffee, but now he gets back in the bed and we cuddle and read together.  Actually I'm doing the reading.  We are reading "Tuesdays With Morrie".  It's a wonderful story of a man who is dying, but he has such a positive attitude about life.  I would recommend this book highly.
The days have changed.  Walt can no longer eat any solid food.  Just won't go down.  We've moved on to mussy stuff.  Right now I have soups.  We have quite a variety going.  I made curry soup, sausage soup, potato/leek soup, veggie soup, chicken paprika soup and a dear friend made broccoli soup and brought it to us last night.  Everything gets a spin in the blender, but Walt says it tastes good.  Problem is he is not getting much down.  Yesterday I would say that he might have eaten a whole 2 cups of food all day.  He did have his chocolate malt too.  Oh, there is the melt-in-your-mouth chocolates he manages to get down.  Right now the favorites are Rollos and Hershey bites.
So, moving on to the plans for the big "Going Away" Party.  The friends have asked me to ask all of you for pictures or maybe you have a "Walt story".  Anything that you might want to share with everyone.  We know it's impossible for everyone to be able to be here.  Just a couple of weekends ago we were suppose to be at our dear friends 50th wedding anniversary in S. California.  We planned for a year and still we couldn't make it  (Happy anniversary Joyce and Don.  We miss you). So, this might be a way to "be there".  I guess you could send them here.  My email is conniejn1@gmail.com.  The address is PO Box 8165, Klamath Falls, OR 97602.
The nurse comes today.  We are up to twice a week with nurse visits now.  Our home health aid came yesterday to bring supplies.  Walt is still able to bath himself and do all of that so we don't work her very hard.  We do have fun visiting with her.
Everyday we look to a new goal.  Right now our big goal is to conserve energy and stay strong to be able to make it to the exciting annual meeting on Sunday.  Walt has not been able to go out to our regular meetings in a while, but this is such a special one that he is determined to put on that tie and jacket and get to this one. Please pray for him to have the strength.  This is so important to him.
Again, thank you for all of the prayers.  We love you all.