When it rains, it pours.....

I have come to hate that saying over the last week and a half. We have defintely had share of pouring rain. On Thursday, February 19, we got a call from Steve's mom that his dad had had a heart attack and we needed to get to Midlothian as quickly as possible. We made quick arrangements for the kids and the dogs and got there by 8 pm. He had stabilized and was doing much better than he had been at the time of the phone call. He was on a ventilator and a heart pump machine. By Sunday afternoon, he was off the heart pump machine and had seemed to turn a corner. We came back home with the plan to return the following Friday. We got a call on Monday afternoon around 2:00 that he had had another heart attack and that we needed to return. We both got subs for the rest of the week and made more kid/dog arrangements. My ob/gyn was able to squeeze my Tuesday appointment in on Monday afternoon. We got our first great 3-D shots. We were able to sit around the hospital and look at the "newest pictures of Pam and Steve's granddaughter." We have decided that she definitely has Steve's nose (thank goodness!).

On Tuesday morning, I got a call from Sarryn and David's dad that his dad's long-time girlfriend had passed away (the beginning of the down pour). We spent most of our time at the hospital following Steve's progress. Pam made me return home each night to sleep in a bed. Steven, Michael and Michele spent most of their time at the hospital with their mom. On Thursday morning around 10, the kids' dad called me again to tell me that his grandfather had just passed away (the down pour continues). Later in the week, the doctors were working with different combinations of medications trying to get Steve's heart, lungs and blood pressure to work together. On Friday around lunch, his heart just could not do any more. He passed away at 12:31. (Will this down pour ever end????) We are all still in shock and very heartbroken. Steve's wishes were that his body be donated to help someone in the event that something like this were to ever happen. Pam was able to arrange that and we have some comfort in knowing that he is still doing his beloved teaching. On Sunday morning, Steve got a text from his friend Billy that his grandmother had just passed away (A continued downpour...)

Steven and I returned home Sunday afternoon to tell the kids. Pam told me before we left on Sunday that sometimes is sucks to be a parent. On this day I would definitely agree. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to tell my children. They absolutely loved their Grandpop. We will be returning to Midlothian as often as possible to spend time with Steve's mom, brother and sister. I will never forget Pam's comment. "This week has just been CRAP!!"

The family has set up a memorial site with the American Heart Assoication in lieu of flowers. It can be reached directly at

http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR/Events/General?pxfid=20070&fr_id=1030&pg=fund