Bereavement.....

I don't care how much you prepare for death, it's always a shocker.

John's mom fell two weeks ago and broke two vertebrae in her back, leading to surgery to fuse the discs back into place. The surgery went well, and things were back on track to return her home to her apartment. She went into rehab and despite her stubborn attitude, it seemed to be going relatively well. However, she was having difficulty breathing one day, and they suspected a blood clot had formed after surgery. I decided that Matthew and I needed to pay a visit to her, and so we went on the 4th of July to see her. Seeing Matthew was the highlight of her day/week/month and probably year. She died later that night, early Tuesday morning from an apparent blood clot that traveled to her heart. It has been a tumultuous week, but we're finally back at work and life is getting back to normal. Despite her being a real pain in my butt at times, I'm going to miss our chats. We had gotten close this past year, me visiting her on my lunch hour at least once every two weeks. She was a hoot, and could tell a good story (literally) in a moment. RIP Irene, I'll miss our chats.
Onto happier subjects. I just returned last week from Philadelphia at the annual ISTE conference (International Society for Technology in Education). LOVE this conference, with over 20,000 people in attendance. I did enjoy some special time with some of my peeps and eat out. John and Matthew held down the fort together at home, and did things like went to Chuck E. Cheese and also took Matthew for his first round at Putt Putt. I had my first Amtrak experience, and it wasn't all bad. Headed to Philly, the first bout of the ride was great. After DC, we picked up a ton of people, so I had various individuals sitting next to me the entire trip. Coming home, I sat next to some lady who was cracking me up the whole time. She was trying to quit smoking, but at every stop she jumped off the train to have a cigarette......she was too funny. I ran while in Philly, slept rather well, and enjoyed some me time.

I did do the Duck Tour. If you ever decide to visit Philadelphia or any other city with the "ducks", do the tour. Corny as hell, but fun, and very educational. I learned more about Philadelphia's history from that tour than any book I've ever read.

Matthew has started swim lessons at our local YMCA. His first lesson was on the day John's mom died. I think there was some sense of trepidation there because of all the drama going on at our house. He whined and cried the whole lesson. His teachers were worried, I was worried, and guess what? He loves swimming lessons now. Here are some pics...


















And here he is one week later.....excuse the fuzziness, it was taken with my cellphone....

And one last picture. Matthew had to be a knight for pre-school yesterday. I think his dad did great with his costume.

Thanks for all the prayers, cards, phone calls and flowers. We know we are loved.
Cindy