Oops, I Did It Again

So....Howdy, friends!
How's life been treatin' ya?
Good?
That's nice.
Here is rundown of what you missed while I was busy:

https://gayandciha.com/tribute/details/3516/Ralph-Wade/obituary.html#tribute-start




And now Claudia and I are living in  Seattle, Washington. I live at Shilshole marina on a boat with Rob, and Claudia is in a nearby nursing home.

 I have met some of Ralph's extended family in Vancouver, Washington and it was fun getting to know his side of history. I know Claudia's well because I regularly had phone calls from my grandma Lennis, who liked to complain that her daughter didn't write or call her enough. Nothing is more fun that being caught between your 70ish mother and your 90ish grandmother, for YEARS while they bicker back and forth about who called who last, and why a letter wasn't good enough for whatever. I had to remind myself they always had that kind of relationship and I wasn't going to change a long set pattern that neither was interested in changing.

Lennis passed away a few months before Ralph. She was 94 when she passed, which is amazing considering she lived in her home, doing her own thing until the end.

When Ralph passed, I was very grateful he did so without suffering, in his sleep. He was in the hospital, but was not hooked up to anything, not even an IV. He was preparing to return to the nursing home the next morning when he fell asleep and didn't wake up. I consider that a huge win for him. I never want another family member to suffer the way Rex did before he died.

Whenever, however Claudia leaves this world, my only hope and concern is that she too, is comfortable and pain free. Life is hard enough without making our exists difficult, especially when there are ways to help that.

Anyway...until then, life goes on, and the Pacific Northwest is beautiful. It is good to be home again.