June 2008
I feel that I should write now as the apartment has grown quiet, and I would like a journal entry for myself, and for those who are trying to contact me, as well as for Lee, who needs his friends to understand.
I am in Chicago. I don't think Lee or I had prepared ourselves fully for the possibility of his mother's death. I never really thought on the hurried, 2am drive here that Nancy would die. I didn't let myself think it. I stayed strong for Lee, telling him to rest.
I was angry that I couldn't help more. I know how deeply Lee loves his mother. She was diagnosed earlier on than most with alzheimers. Lee and I would take frequent trips to Chicago to visit her and help take care of her. He would get very emotional seeing her condition deteriorate. I, who never knew her when she would have known me, would spend my time around the apartment amazed at her sense of humor. She would laugh and joke around, and, I got to know her that way, watching her smile. I've also had the honor of hearing Lee's stories about her love for music, dancing, and her family.
I must note before I go on, that we had a frustrating encounter on the out of Madison. The Marge's BP near pizza extreme on East washington was one of the few places open to get gas at hat hour.
I tried to fill up the tank and could not, so I went in and talked to this grumpy, rude asshole behind the counter. apparently, i was supposed to know they were out of gas.
they in no way communicated this with any signs. They just wanted people to buy silver instead.
"it's all dried up," he said to the area kind of to the right of me.
I had borrowed cash in order to make the trip and could not. the guy was so rude i just wanted to scream at him and was so distracted that it wasn't until we got to the colliseum that i remembered I never put the gas cap back on. So we went in search of the little cap, which was precariously resting on the edge of the sewer, cracked from the fall. We put it back on and found gas near rimrock.
Let me tell you how lucky that employee should be that we made it in time to be with Nancy during her last few moments.
Like I said, we were not ready for this. And now it is time to remember her, to hug and cry and tell stories, to be with family: her family that she raised so lovingly.
I feel sad that I cannot find the solace that others are finding in prayer.
How comforting it would be to believe.
I am just glad that I can be here for Lee.
Right before I came here I was in Fond du Lac. Lee and I arrived there around 2AM on Friday morning, knowing that my parents basement would be wet and they would not be back from vacation for a week.
What we found was pretty incredible. The ver tiny creek a block from my house, had overflowed past it's banks and 2 vehicles had landed inside it. The yards around the area were lakes. Lee and I parked in a higher area in a dentist's lot full of cars. We waded through water, worried about sewage, got to the house happy to find the street there was alright. We showered and put on matching white hotel robes, had a drink and then looked at the basement for the much anticipated damage. It was only a few inches of water, but distributed throughout the large basement.
I had just been discussing with Dina about how our parents hoard and how difficult it would be to sort through everything someday. My dad not only buys anything that has a rebate, and in very large numbers, but he keeps everything, including newspapers and magazines, and his own copies of articles. Paper bags of obituaries of his friends and acquantances, old happy meals, baby clothes, and of course the tv lay on the floor. Now, everytime i come home i clean and organize. the tv has been on the basement floor for so long, and is too heavy for me to lift. i always offered to help my dad, even to put together one of the 5 shelves he has in boxes in the garage. now it was ruined.
i was careful not to get electrocuted. but the incredible task lay before us of moving all of the wet things out of the basement, and drying out the carpeting to prevent mold.
I think we did a great job, and I hope my dad has learned a lesson about having too much crap (yeah right).
My thoughts right now are with all of the flooding victims and with Nancy and our family.
Please support lee during this difficult time. I don't know what else to say.
photos from next to my house and my old school/aquatic center taken by patrick flood- fdl reporter
I am in Chicago. I don't think Lee or I had prepared ourselves fully for the possibility of his mother's death. I never really thought on the hurried, 2am drive here that Nancy would die. I didn't let myself think it. I stayed strong for Lee, telling him to rest.
I was angry that I couldn't help more. I know how deeply Lee loves his mother. She was diagnosed earlier on than most with alzheimers. Lee and I would take frequent trips to Chicago to visit her and help take care of her. He would get very emotional seeing her condition deteriorate. I, who never knew her when she would have known me, would spend my time around the apartment amazed at her sense of humor. She would laugh and joke around, and, I got to know her that way, watching her smile. I've also had the honor of hearing Lee's stories about her love for music, dancing, and her family.
I must note before I go on, that we had a frustrating encounter on the out of Madison. The Marge's BP near pizza extreme on East washington was one of the few places open to get gas at hat hour.
I tried to fill up the tank and could not, so I went in and talked to this grumpy, rude asshole behind the counter. apparently, i was supposed to know they were out of gas.
they in no way communicated this with any signs. They just wanted people to buy silver instead.
"it's all dried up," he said to the area kind of to the right of me.
I had borrowed cash in order to make the trip and could not. the guy was so rude i just wanted to scream at him and was so distracted that it wasn't until we got to the colliseum that i remembered I never put the gas cap back on. So we went in search of the little cap, which was precariously resting on the edge of the sewer, cracked from the fall. We put it back on and found gas near rimrock.
Let me tell you how lucky that employee should be that we made it in time to be with Nancy during her last few moments.
Like I said, we were not ready for this. And now it is time to remember her, to hug and cry and tell stories, to be with family: her family that she raised so lovingly.
I feel sad that I cannot find the solace that others are finding in prayer.
How comforting it would be to believe.
I am just glad that I can be here for Lee.
Right before I came here I was in Fond du Lac. Lee and I arrived there around 2AM on Friday morning, knowing that my parents basement would be wet and they would not be back from vacation for a week.
What we found was pretty incredible. The ver tiny creek a block from my house, had overflowed past it's banks and 2 vehicles had landed inside it. The yards around the area were lakes. Lee and I parked in a higher area in a dentist's lot full of cars. We waded through water, worried about sewage, got to the house happy to find the street there was alright. We showered and put on matching white hotel robes, had a drink and then looked at the basement for the much anticipated damage. It was only a few inches of water, but distributed throughout the large basement.
I had just been discussing with Dina about how our parents hoard and how difficult it would be to sort through everything someday. My dad not only buys anything that has a rebate, and in very large numbers, but he keeps everything, including newspapers and magazines, and his own copies of articles. Paper bags of obituaries of his friends and acquantances, old happy meals, baby clothes, and of course the tv lay on the floor. Now, everytime i come home i clean and organize. the tv has been on the basement floor for so long, and is too heavy for me to lift. i always offered to help my dad, even to put together one of the 5 shelves he has in boxes in the garage. now it was ruined.
i was careful not to get electrocuted. but the incredible task lay before us of moving all of the wet things out of the basement, and drying out the carpeting to prevent mold.
I think we did a great job, and I hope my dad has learned a lesson about having too much crap (yeah right).
My thoughts right now are with all of the flooding victims and with Nancy and our family.
Please support lee during this difficult time. I don't know what else to say.
photos from next to my house and my old school/aquatic center taken by patrick flood- fdl reporter