An Unusual Week (Weeknotes

Monday

😬 When the week began there were no clues that a life changing event was about to unfold.

✈️ My wife Marlene left early Monday for a business trip that was to last a few days. Nothing out of the ordinary.

It was a beautiful day, but there was rain in the forecast. It was now or never for cutting the grass. So after work that’s what I did.

Tuesday

🥱 The day started out like any other Tuesday.

🪚 There’s a guy (we’ll call him Carl) who helps me out with jobs around that house that I can’t do myself. Carl stopped by in the morning to take a look at a few things that have been on my list for a while.

🌧️ But it was now raining (just as the experts had predicted) so he would not be able to get started right away. He said he’d be back in a few days. No problem.

🤳 A little while later my mother’s name popped up on my phone. My father had had a recent injury from which he was recuperating, and his recovery was at times frustrating so she called every now and then to keep me posted.

😫 Through her hysterics I was just able to discern that my father had experienced some kind of episode, that the paramedics had been called, and that he was on his way to the hospital.

🚗 I asked whether she had a ride to the hospital (she did^[1]) and then told her that I was on my way. At this point, I really had no idea what was going on—but it didn’t sound good.

🕑 During the two and a half hours it took me to drive to the hospital, I received no news. I took this as a bad sign.

😞 By the time I arrived it was all over. My father had died.

📞 I took my mother home and we started making phone calls.

Wednesday

⚰️ Marlene, who had cut her trip short and flown in Tuesday evening, accompanied my mother and me to the funeral home where we made arrangements. There were several important decisions to be made, and the funeral director did a fine job guiding us through them all.

🚗 Afterward, Marlene took the car and drove home to get me (and her) fresh clothes.

📝 I wrote my father’s obituary and emailed it to the funeral director.

🥡 The wonderful people I work with chipped in to send me a DoorDash gift card, which my mother and I used to order Chinese food.

Thursday

🏖️ Not much to do, but it was a lovely day so I took my mother to the beach. We sat quietly for a couple hours. And there were some kites.

Friday

🧹 My mother and I did some grocery shopping and cleaned the house in preparation for Saturday’s visitors.

Saturday

💐 Visiting hours followed by a short prayer service. Nothing too elaborate.

🥪 Close friends and family members came to my mother’s house for some food, drinks, and to remember my dad.

Sunday

🏡 Back home. Starting to get back to (new) normal.

Call your mom and dad if you can. Get out there and enjoy the day.

Love, Michael ❤️💛