A Tale As Old As Time

I was getting ready to shut down the computer when I remembered I haven't shared Beauty and the Beast with you yet!

Sharaya was given tickets to Anastasia at the Paramount the same night Beth and I were going to the 5th Avenue Theater so we ended up taking the Light Rail downtown. It was so much faster and we didn't have to fight traffic or search for parking.

 

We walked through the tunnel to get outside then stopped at MOD Pizza before heading to the theater. We got there about 20 minutes after the doors opened and by then the line was really short. We had to show ID and proof of vaccination, got our hands stamped and went inside! We were so excited!

We had such great seats! They were perfect. We took a few pictures and read the program while we waited for the show to start! Beth took a picture of the rose on the curtain and put it as the background on her phone.

 

The whole play was good. There were a few new songs but most of them were from the movie. The actors voices were phenomenal, the music was familiar - all the songs you know and love - and we tried our best to not sing along. Too loudly.

Our favorite part was Be Our Guest. Oh my word, the audience erupted in applause and we gave them a standing ovation for that! It was spectacular! Of course, no pictures allowed so I took this at the end. This was the set for the library and the tower, it slowly turned depending on what they needed. The last couple pictures I got from their website.

It was a magical night! If you get a chance to see it, we highly recommend it!

Autism, Puppies and Technology

Ken called the other day and said he'd like to have the memorial in San Diego on Mother's Day weekend. It will give him enough time to continue working on the house and would be a nice way to honor my sister. So now I'm scanning photos to make some posters to take down with us. Instead of taping photographs onto display boards, I guess the thing to do now is to just have some posters made. Upload your pictures and they print collages on any size poster you want. It will definitely be easier than packing all the photos, then buying the boards once we get down there.

I went down to the waterfront the other day and saw this guy 'greeting' everyone who walked, jogged or drove by.

 

Special Connections is going well. We have two boys - brothers - who absolutely love the class. They refuse to be with the typical students and even ask me to close the door when the other kids get too loud in their room across the hall. They are both on the spectrum but often hug me and tell me Sunday is their favorite day of the week. It does my heart good!

The boys with our other teacher, playing with kinetic sand

 

Poppy is growing fast and learning all sorts of things: sit, stay, come, don't eat that! Let go of my finger! You know, typical puppy stuff. We took her for a walk a few weeks ago and she became so overwhelmed by the people, other dogs barking, traffic (she's just 4 months old) that Diana had to carry her the rest of the way home. She won't be able to lift her much longer!

 

Beth got a new phone. She dropped her old one and the screen cracked. Not just the protective cover but the actual screen. She wanted a Motorola since that's what she's used to and was so concerned she would lose all of the information on her old phone. She was so relieved to find out they would transfer everything to the new one!

 

That's about all from here. I hope you're doing well and are enjoying this last bit of winter.

Waves

The last week has been full. A birthday, dentist appointment, card games and pet entertainment.

We all went to Scott's for dinner then came back here to give Chuck his gifts, eat pie and play Skip-Bo. He turned 64 this year and I'm so grateful for him.

 

Diana and Peter brought Poppy over and she ran and played and kept them from sitting for too long. In and out, in and out most of the night. But that's good because it means she's potty trained. 😊 She really is such a good girl!

Beth had a dentist appointment. Just a cleaning, but they said she has a wisdom tooth that has to come out so they're referring us to an oral surgeon. Beth is really good about procedures like this so I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. I'll try not to freak out in front of her.

Preparing for x-rays.

 

Mia and Moxie are the best. These sisters will antagonize each other, hide around a corner then attack when the other walks by, they chase each other around the house... so much fun to watch! And they're so curious. About e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

But mostly the week has been about my sister. I was able to talk to my brother-in-law Ken. More like my brother really. He and Kathy met when I was in grade school. 

This is a terrible copy (and I can't find the original) but I was about 8 here. He's really been a part of our family my whole life.

He told me they were in bed and he got up to fix the heater and she got up to use the bathroom. He heard her go back to bed so he was talking to her about the heater and she wasn't answering him. When he got to the bedroom... she was unresponsive. It was that quick. 

She had some health issues I wasn't aware of so I'm curious to see what they put as the 'cause of death' on the death certificate.

The waves of grief are coming less now. I was doing okay yesterday and when I got in the shower I sobbed. Couldn't stop it. So I didn't.

Thank you all for your kind words. It was very healing to read all your comments. I'll get back to reading and commenting on your blogs soon. I hope you're doing well.

My Oldest Sister Died Today

My niece called at 6:30 this morning to tell me my sister had died. She was sobbing so I wasn't sure I heard her right. Honestly, I'm still in shock. It was totally unexpected. She was only 68.

I ran out of the bedroom and Sharaya and Ally were just getting ready to walk out the door when I told her, "Aunt Kathy died!" She immediately put down all her stuff and called Chuck and then Diana. I was still talking to my niece. We were both sobbing. 

Ken (my sister's husband) had been sick but was starting to feel much better. Then Kathy started feeling sick. My nice talked to her on the phone on Sunday and Kathy said she didn't feel good. She was congested and had a hard time coughing up stuff. When they went to bed last night Ken said "she had a hard time finding the right words." During the night the heater went out so he went outside to fix it and when he got back to bed she was unresponsive.

We don't know if she had a stroke or a heart attack... 

I called our other sister Deb and we cried for a while. 

Chuck came back home from work, Diana came over and we spent the day looking through old photos. During dinner we watched home movies. It still doesn't feel real.

L-R Kathy's the oldest, then me, and Deb.

 

 

We took these when we visited them in Colorado in October of 2020. These are the last pictures I have of us.