Jack at the Zoo

Brookfield Zoo

2008

*******************

Troy & Jack at Brookfield

*******************

Take me out to the Ballgame

August 20,2008

Ian's first trip to a major league game

to bad it was a Cub's game

(Sorry Beth)

******************

Ian in front of statue of

Harry Carey

Ian with more art work at

Wrigley Field

Chicago, IL

*****************************

Surgery and other things

One week from today I will be having my left knee

replaced .. So please say a prayer, howl at the moon,

walk naked in the woods or wrap the white voodoo doll

in happy colors and cushion it from pain.

Do what ever it is you do to make sure this goes

well. I need to get healthy soon.

Jack is getting big enough to go to Disney

and the San Diego Zoo.

I need to be able to keep up with him.
***

I am very comfortable with this hospital

and I like my Doctor .. Imagine that ,

a Doctor that I don't HATE !!!

Arkansas Surgical Hospital

http://www.arksurgicalhospital.com/

**********

***************************************

It seems strange to not hear from Marc this

week. I have talked to Ian, and Beth .

****

Marc

Immediate cause of death:

Severe coronary atherosclerosis

Accute coronary artery thrombosis

Acute myocardial infarction

and add hypertension to all of that.

*****

There will be a "educational fun fund "

set up for Ian , with Serena and Jim (Marc's

best friend) being the overseers of the account .

This money came from Marc's bio father, Kayvan

and from a couple of friends of ours that wanted

to "do something".

**

The general reason for this fund would be to help

offset cost of "fun" educationl programs.

International Language Village, Space Camp,

Boy Scout Camp, Performing Arts Camp-- you get the

idea .. This is not for Disney World or Six Flags.

*********

One more thing...

On September 27th

there will be a

Get together at our house.

We will be playing darts, dominoes and

maybe some canasta or golf

(The last 2 are cards games)

Please arrive after 5pm and plan to leave

before you are to

tired or drunk to drive.

I will provide , beer, jambalaya,

coke and iced tea.

If you feel energetic. You can bring

something to add the the food and

beverage table.

Marc

For those of you that do not know ,

our nephew Marc died on August 6

****

He had 3 blocked arteries and the 4th one was not

in great shape. I have not been given much information.

Not that I expected any less from Cathi and I think now

I can add Karen to that list also.

***

They can keep their secrets , but they need to remember .

I was the one that talked to Marc and Ian every week.

I am the one Marc called when he needed to laugh,

vent or tell family secrets and sometimes he just

needed to talk to somebody that he knew would

never repeat these conversations.

******

***

Beth called me from the hospital on this

black day of my life. As you can imagine she was very

rattled and not making a lot of sense. But then I was so

shocked that I don't think I could have processed much

at thatparticular moment. She said that Marc

had listed me as next of kin- and of course I started

making calls and plans to get back to Wisconsin to

take care of Marc and to make sure Ian was

processing all of this .

***

The minute that Cathi discovered that I was N-o-K,

you can bet your last dollar she called a lawyer to make

sure SHE could take over. She picked a strange time

to get involved in her biological son's life.

Needless to say -- Cathi had to barge in like a bull

and block anything that I had planned. She has had no

contact with Marc or Ian for a very long time .

Once she stepped in all communication to me was

ended. I found out later that Marc had made it to the

hospital alive and talking ,but that is where my info ends.

I am sure I will never know whatreally happened..

I also know that Karen has hurt me - deeply

and I don't know if I will ever forget her words.

She seems to think that I had no right to say or do anything .

Karen- Just remember - It was me that Marc called

when things were good and when things were bad.

****

Marc knows that I would have NEVER sent him off in

blue pinstripe pants and would never have denied him the

eulogy he deserved or had his favorite music played

(Did you know that Marc hated the screechy off key hymns

that he grew up hearing??)

or had that strange pastor preside over the

services. That was all Cati. How dare he say all

of those negative things about Marc's and Marc's life

in Christ??How dare he say those negative things

in front of his son and all of the other people that

loved Marc??? This service HAD to be approved by

somebody in charge ..

****

There were also some strange things that went on at the

funeral home , but I feel that others witnessed them , so I

don't need to list them here.

****

Tom and I were going to have the service in Waukegan, where so

many of Marc'sfriends are , but there was a bunch of

smoke and mirrors used to stop that also.

**

Also let me say , that Cathi & Karen beat feet to get

to Marc's apartment. What were they searching for ??

***

The man was on the verge of poverty. What did they think

they would find ???? I am very resentful that they could not

even wait until the body was cold before they started

"inventory"..

*****

I called Marc's aunt Nahid and I also spoke to Kayvan and Alex.

Since Marc was communicating with his other family

I felt they needed to be notified. They were devastated !

*****

It is now more than a week since all of this happened and

still the tears are flowing . I am also very concerned

about Ian. I am so glad that he is going to have

Buck & Carie in his daily life. He needs that stability.

****

Serena & Tom were my rocks during all

of this even tho there were in pain also.

I am a lucky woman to have them

^^^^^^^^^^^

I also am glad to have finally met Jim and Barbie. I have

heard so much about them over the years and now

I can put a face with the names. Marc always said that

Jim was the brother he never had , and I am so happy

that he had Jim to talk to and share his life with.

****

All I can say now , is Marc knows

Spelling Lesson

For those of you in need of a refresher course

in spelling , you can call our

brilliant grandson and he will tell you

how to spell the following words:

BALL

*

stop

*

Red

*

Dog

*

Jack

*

and last but not least

***

BANANA

***

Pretty darned impressive for a boy

that will not be 3 until the end of January !!!