Thursday, August 09, 2007


I just got home from my Grandfather's service. It was really nice. Lots of people came out. Church and community people and family. Good music and a great slide show of pictures from his birth all the way till the present. He left 4 children, 10 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

A Cedar Park Police officer spoke and told a great story about my grandfather. He used to hang out at a local cafe with about 8 or 10 other old guys. They had a table of their own - the liars table it was called. And this police officer frequented the same cafe and got to know the guys and Grandpa in particular. Grandpa had a great sense of humor and loved to give people a hard time, even cops. So this officer used to occasionally leave the cafe a bit before the old guys and he would park and hide near my Grandpa's house. When Grandpa would drive by, this cop would come after him, full lights and sirens. Apparently Grandpa would 'wave', the cop said. But only with one finger. Yup, that is my Grandpa. It was apparent today that there are a great many people who will miss him.

Jackson behaved well during the service. He played with his cars on the floor and enjoyed being around the kids that were there. He even kissed my cousins little baby girl. Very cute. But sometime I will have to teach him not to presumptively kiss girls without their permission. He did very well though. Except for one thing. When the preacher said Jesus Christ during a scripture reading, Jackson, who sat on the edge of the stage, began to repeat it. "Jesus Christ" quite clearly in is sweet little voice. You see, two weeks ago my Father taught him to say that while we were driving in traffic. Except it wasn't a prayer it was an explicative. Dad said it as he drove, Jackson repeated it over and over in the back seat. And today when the pastor said it, his little face perked up. "Hey, I know that word, I can say that!" And he did. At least 4 times. Those of us in the front row had been lightly weeping, and suddenly we were laughing hysterically. Luckily sobbing and laughing so hard you cry looks very similar. Even my Grandmother couldn't help but laugh. My Father, who sat next to me, was very proud. "I taught him that!" He proclaimed with joy. There you go. My heathen two-year-old offers comic relief at a funeral. Not a moment we are likely to forget. And I think my Grandfather, who cursed like a sailor and loved a good joke, would have approved.

Yesterday went well. I felt great and had energy. I had my heart scan at 10, so Jackson and I headed out about 9:30 to meet my Mom at the Cancer Center. Jackson was being cranky. Wanted to wear a pair of shoes that are now too small for him and nothing else would do. I couldn't let him have his way on this one so we had a cranky fit and had to be dragged to the car unwillingly. He got over it on the drive, though, when I bought him a McDonald's hash brown. He loves them.

The cancer center has a nice, big lobby with couches for seating and a large aquarium with lots of fish. Jackson has been there 3 or 4 times already and loves to stand in front of the fish tank and watch them. They also have a big box with books and crayons and coloring books for kids to play with. My Mom stayed with him while I went in for my scan.

The scan is called a MUGA Scan. The took blood from my arm, mixed it with radioactive material, let it sit for 20 minutes and then injected it back into my IV. The radioactive material shows up on the scanner, that didn't look much different to me than the CT scanner. Except it had a flat 'camera' attachment that they focused on my heart. I had to lay still for 10 or 15 minutes while they took pictures, or it may be a video, I am not sure. The radioactive junk made me kind of woozy so, though I asked a lot of questions, I can't quite remember all the answers. I did gather that these pictures (or video) was focused on my left ventricle and was measuring...something. And this 'something' it measured gives them an idea of how Strong my heart is. Can it withstand chemo, is there any damage now we need to know about, etc. Here is a website for the curious, http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/otherriskfactors/l/blmuga.htm. (Um, if anyone knows how to make a link on blogspot and wants to let me know, I would appreciate it.)

I just got a phone call from my Cancer Center nurse, Jennifer. She said the results show that my heart is functioning normally so all is well.

After the scan, we got lunch and and sat at San Gabriel Park to eat and let Jackson play. He loves to watch the river flowing and he always has fun with TT. This is his new name for my Mom's partner. My Mom is Grammy B and Tonya is Grammy T. But Jackson has decided that she is TT. He and TT have a grand time together. He gets a great big grin on his face whenever he sees her. It makes me happy to watch how much they love each other. It is very sweet.

After lunch Jackson and I headed to the Theatre for work. It was nice to get there and get Jackson in his bed. He was happy to go. I asked him if he was ready to nap and he trotted to the handicapped bathroom, helped me turn on the fan and lifted his arms to me to be put in the Pack & Play. He layed down, head on his hands, and said "Night night Mommy."

I got several things done at work that needed to be done. Got the scrips and music scores from 1776 packed up and ready for UPS to pick them up. The show closed on July 1st and we hadn't sent them back to MTI. They probably want their scripts back and are probably all ready to send us a great big bill for them. But since I got sick, and the theatre got so busy with a hit show and full enrollment summer camp, little things like this got missed. That is usually my job. I get licenses and order scripts and ship things back. And it was good to do my job and get some things done.

My sister, Jenni, came into town last night for Grandpa's service and is staying with me. We stayed up too late watching clips on You Tube. I don't get to spend much time with her and we had a good time.

And right now, David and I are about to leave in my Mother's Santa Fe to pick up our shiny new TV! It arrived in Austin this morning and the tracking website said it wouldn't be delivered till Monday. So I called them and asked if we can come get it and they said come on down. They are near the airport and send & receive freight 24/7 so we can come anytime - literally- and pick it up. Yay! I would much rather they deliver it, but picking it up is better than waiting till Monday. I have chemo on Tuesday and want this all set up and settled before then. I know, I am impatient. So sue me.

2 comments:

Ronni said...

Marsha, our condolences on the passing of your grandfather...

Here's how to link:

Copy the link. Click on the link icon on the blogger post toolbar. Paste the link into the box that pops up. Click OK. When the link appears in the text box of your post, toward the end of it is one of these: ><. Click in between the > and the < and type something. That something will be what shows as your link in the post.

It works!

Dayna said...

Sorry I am just now commenting on your grandfather's death. I hope you and your family are coping well. Lots of love to you all.