Just When It Was Supposed To Be A Happy Ending... (Part 1)

I should've known. It was too perfect of a day - something had to go wrong...

It was Thursday. The school day went smoothly, and Troy and I waited after school for the Christmas concert. I bought some food for Troy and some friends down at Subway. We came back, and the band started showing up.

We tuned and started the concert. The concert was short, but we did pretty good. We played several old classic christmas carols and then transitioned into more contemporary christmas music - Christmas Time Is Here, Adeste Phidelius, Manheim Steamroller Silent Night, and we finished it off with Wizards in Winter. That last song was the best. Troy, on his guitar, got up center stage with the bass and rocked out.

At any rate, afterwards I hung out with my friends and watched the wrestling match in the Carley Center. Troy took me home.

We had a lot of guests over that night. That's the reason that Mom and Dad didn't make it to the Christmas concert. Really busy night for them. My mom's best friend is Beth, and her daughter Alyssa is a friend of the family living here in Boise. It was Alyssa's birthday Thursday, and consequently, most of her family showed up in our house to celebrate it.

It was kind of awkward walking in - I barely know any of them at all, save Alyssa and Beth. I quickly worked my way through the mass of visitors with drinks in their hands to find Beth.

"How's it going Beth?"
"Good, you?"
"Good." I looked around. "Hey, where's Mom and Dad?"
She sighed. "They're downstairs. Your Dad had a rough night..."

Shit...

Good News

"Good news is blowin' in your window
Good news is knockin' on your door
Good news is comin' round the corner
Good news is rollin' round your floor...."

I really didn't think I'd get to say it, but Dad is getting better and better. He's now able to walk fairly well. His speech still suffers but it slowly and steadily makes progress as well. They took an MRI recently and the tumors had shrunk. Everything is getting better. Even some of his hair is growing back. It really makes me happy to see him these days and be able to watch him recover.

This opens up new possibilities for the family. Before this last month or so, Dad had to constantly be watched and cared for and there would be no taking him anywhere. I can't imagine what it's been like for him... but Mitzi took him to the park the other day for a walk and he did well. We're talking about taking him up to McCall. If things keep improving we could take him to dinner or movies or vacations even.

While it's true that Dad doesn't need to be cared for anymore, he shouldn't be left alone either. He should still be watched. With all this happening this obviously means that we're not thinking weeks and months here anymore. We may still have him for many months and even years. We've been getting by on Gary's insurance (he's still taking care of us, isn't that sweet?) but it's obvious that we can't go on like this. Mom had left her work to take care of Gary, but she's going back to work now, and she talks about maybe hiring a companion for Dad (family reading this, keep it on the down-low. That means you Brian!). It's almost as if things are going back to normal...

So Mom's going back to work, Dad's getting better, and everything's turning up for the better!

"Good news Comin' down the chimney
Good news Knockin' on my door
Good news Leavin' through the window
Good news Can't take no more
Good news Spreadin' all the country
Good news For the young and old
Good news Goin' round the world, now
Good news Too hard to hold back..."

Another piece of lesser good news is that I finally found my camera, so once I get it to hook up to this dam computer right, you can expect some more pictures and such.

"Good news....
Good news...." - Randy Newman

Meet the Family

Note - Gary, my dad, is not in this picture. He was the one taking it.

This is my immediate family, as well as my aunt, uncle, and cousin. Not my only ones, but they live here in Boise, so I get to see them alot more than most of my extended family. (Most of them are in California.) And I will now describe them in no particular order.

Jessica - My sister of 22. She always liked me and is very nice. She is good company and enjoys girly things like clothes and makeup. She also enjoys partying with Micheal on a regular basis. She goes to college at BSU and owns a little house about a mile away from ours. She visits often, but I can tell that she's starting to get a life of her own now that she's an adult.

Micheal - My brother of 20. He is strong, philosophical, if somewhat arrogant. He is funny and great conversation. I don't get to see too much of him anymore because he goes to college in St. John's in Minnesota, but I miss him every second that he's gone. One of my favorite characters in my life.

Me - Oh come on. It's on the sidebar.

Andy - My brother of 13. This is one of the most competitive, athletic people I know. He's on year-round swim team, some sort of plus soccer team, as well as having played most of the other sports out there. He's somewhat annoying and malicious, but I have faith that he's going to mature and be a good person someday.

Mitzi - My mother of ??? She is really a great Mom. She's always been really caring, and how I was brought up really made me a good person. And a lot of it comes from her. She's never really does things if she doesn't think that it's right. She's got a great sense of right and wrong, and a great will to follow the first one. Besides that, she's a nurse working under a neurosurgeon at St. Luke's Hospital.

Gary - (not shown) My father of ??? He as well is a great Dad. He was the religious factor in the family, and was an outspoken Catholic to try to teach us about his faith. He is a doctor - anesthesiologist - and works at St. Luke's as well. I think Dad told me he met Mom over a patient. He really is brilliant, much smarter than I am. He recently was diagnosed with cancer, but he's taken some chemo and if things continue as they are, it could be normal again. I love him so much, and hope that it will be normal again.

Later: Amy, Kurt, and Ali.