Later December 20, 2008

Hi again,

In church tonight, Jill’s mom passed out and it hit a little too close to home for us. She wouldn’t wake up when her husband shook her and said her name and lightly slapped her face. It was really scary. Somebody called 911 but when she woke up, she said she was fine and didn’t seem to remember anything happening. She certainly didn’t want to leave in the ambulance and I don’t think she did. A cop showed up at the end of mass, but he left right as we did, so maybe she just went home? She had the cold sweats so we think her blood sugar may have been low. Don’t worry, we drank two cokes each when we got home to make sure the same thing didn’t happen to us.

Poor Gooty. This is going to be so damn hard on her when we finally go back to our own lives. Nick and I talked about adopting her but we both know she wouldn’t be happy living in the city. It would be easier if she could still hear and we wouldn’t have to have her on a leash as often, but she can’t hear and she would be so confused by leaving the home she’s known almost her whole life. Woe is me. I hope Mom takes better care of her than we’re expecting her to.

Nick just bought pots for some of your plants that we took from the funeral. Of course, Mom sent most of the plants home with other people without even offering them to us which pissed me off, but Nick stepped up and told her he wanted the little Norwegian Dragon Island Pine from the Crowne Plaza. We ended up taking a couple of peace lilies with us too. We will be trying our hardest to keep them alive forever and ever, amen.

I think I forgot to tell you that in the days after your death, we received four wild rice hotdishes and four meat and cheese trays from concerned citizens. One night we drank your box of wine (it tasted terrible until I was good and drunk) with Tom and Charlye and when they left, Red and I had a meat and cheese eating contest. I had to go to the bathroom (the wine, you know) and I was pretty sure Red cheated when I was gone, so I kind of lost heart. Then she made me laugh and my salami fell out of my mouth and one of the dogs got it and it counted as a reversal so I lost. It was disappointing. I lost AND thought I would never be able to eat a cold cut again for the rest of my life. Lose, lose.

I don’t have my car at home because Nick drove us up the day you died, so I’ve been driving your truck a little. The low coolant light is coming on every once in a while and staying on, but Mike insists it’s okay. I’m just going to trust him, especially since he’s going to buy the truck from Mom.

Speaking of buying stuff, you really didn’t have to ask that your sawmill and backhoe be sold and the proceeds given to Red and me just so things would be even. We’re not and never have worried about that. We know that you loved us equally. Let’s be honest, I know that you loved me more than those other two. You could have at least made Mike feel special letting him have your outdoorsy assets straight up. We know he would have willingly shared them with us and our children without you ever having to request it. But, as long as you say that we’re to sell those two things and split the proceeds, Red and I are thinking about having a little fun with it. Mike wants to finish siding the shack (as do we) and he needs the sawmill to do it. We are considering telling him that he has to buy it before he uses it and we’re not in the business of cutting deals. He’ll have to outbid everyone else on eBay if he really wants it. I know that would make you smirk and shake your head. We wouldn’t really do that, of course, except jokingly. Maybe it’s not the nicest thing to do but it makes us laugh and, damn it, we need laughs at a time like this.

Write at you tomorrow, hopefully.

Love you bunches and will never stop,
Angie