"Bookends of 2009"

Mom and are writing this one together...ok, I writing she reading and critiquing ...

2009

*January 1, 2009... mom and daddy came hiome early from a New Years eve party only to be home 20 minutes when all of a sudden the carbon monoxide dector went crazy, mom and dad looked at each other and said " What the hell is that?" They quickly realized what it was and went looking for the cause...sure enough as soon as daddy oopened the basement doors he could see da flames...da basement was on fire! It was a good thing they came home when they did, cause had they not da whole house would have gone up in flames and we would not be here, thankfully we all made it out safely. Mom should have known then what the rest of 2009 would look like...it did not get better....

*February 2, 2009... Papa had his hip replaced...no problems wif da hip "cept he really pissed off daddy by recovering so quickly from surgery

(oh, mom approved da word, she said it was da only one appropriate)

*March....not a bad month, nothing much happened...

*April 3, 2009....where do I begin? Uncle Dana called mom and said "dad needs to go to the hospital but won't can you talk to him?" She said just call 911, they did and she got a call saying he was at Marlboro Hospital, then a few minutes later Grammy called and said he didn't look good and they were going to transfer him to UMASS, she said keep me updated...no one really explained what was really going on, so mom wasn't too worried just yet....mom went to work adn about midnight the ER MD called and said get here now, he won't make the night...she left flying, i don't fink her tires touched da ground....She and daddy got der and it looked BAD!!!! Mom cried but remained strong and in da room wif Papa always asking questions and not liking  da answers but knew everything going on, and took control, Grammy had done enough and it was time for mom to step up and ease things for her a bit. Mom signed the Health Care Proxy but did so wif a heavy heart and signed for him to have the Balloon pump placed in his leg to keep his heart functioning.

(he was in complete heart failure) Papa was stabilized and the procedure went well enough for him to be transferrred to Mass General in Boston the next morning...here mom says she finally met real Angels...one special Angel was Ellen his nurse....she was a true angle, she never left Papas side for one minute the first day...even when Papa wasn't on his best behavior. The month of April had good days and a lot of very bad days,

but we all made it to May

*May...Papa is still in da hospital and still has da balloon pump in his leg, during May we got the news Papa would be listed for Transplant, woohoo!!

*May 30, 2009 RN Hallary called @ 11pm to say..."get here now, we have a heart for your dad" Mom leaves work headed for Boston, gets there in time to see Papa before surgery...

*May 31,2009...Dr MacGilvery called to update us that surgery was called off because the heart was not viable once it arrived in Boston. Back to waiting....

*May 14, 2009...daddy got a call on his cell phone from his dad, whom he hadn't spoken to in 6 years, we knew this was not a good sign, so mom returned the call and had to tell daddy his only uncle had passed away in his sleep da night before, he was 45 yrs old.

*June 9,2009...Papa got his artificial heart, dey call it an LVAD (left ventricular assist device)...Papa was hooked up to batteries....we call him da "energizer Papa"

"stead of bunny...no offence Zack.

July 19, 2009...mom and dad went to Albany NY to pick up Titan and bring him home.

*July 20,2009...Papa came home from da hospital for a home visit on his birthday, Titan accompanied him...Titan met Pugsy dat day.....we were happy to have dat ball of energy out of da house, we didn't realized dey were bringing him home to stay..

*August 28, 2009 mom and papa go to Mass General for a routine check up and his MD said she was going to activate him back on the transplant list and see what happens...little did we know dat visit would change our lives forever, especially Papas...

*August 31, 2009...noontime, Papa called mom to tell her he was going to Boston, his new heart was waiting for him,

WHAT???? NEW HEART????

Mom rushed to Boston to see Papa before surgery...5pm off to Surgery....9:40pm, first cut made, transplant is on and new heart ready to go....

September 1, 2009 5am...Dr MacGilvery tells mom "it went perfect, new heart is beating on its own w/ no complications.

*Sept 1, 2009 3pm breathing tube out and Papa is awake..wow, mom says he was PINK..no more Blue Papa ( I wondered wif his new coloring if I would recognize him,

I had never seen a pink papa before)

Sept. 29, 2009...Papa goes home from Hospital...for GOOD!!!!

*early October, Grampy asked Daddy to move into his house and take it over...he was giving him da house...we gonna have a new Big house to run and play...and a new sister too...her name is Sandy....

*October 31, 2009...we move into da new house!!!! We love it and Grampy loves dat we are finally moved in...he and Grammy moved into assisted living da week before.

*November...uneventful until Thanksgiving... Daddy's mom called to say Grampy wasn't feeling well but would see the doctor on Monday...

*November 29, 2009 Grampy admitted to hospital...
*November 30, 2009 mom and daddy visit Grampy and have a nice conversation...
 Grampy tells Daddy he is proud of him and dat he loves him...
8 hours later Grampy passes away...

he was supposed to come home da next day...what happened????

December 1, 2009...Family drama ensues and now all bets are off on da house...da kids Grampy's kids want it sold and they want da money...no regard for Grampy's wishes at all...its all about da money...dey are money hungry vultures...mom and daddy now have to buy da house dey were given a mere 6 weeks prior...DRAMA!!!!

December 23, 2009...furnace fire back at da old house...do you see a pattern repeating?? Mom hopes not...She hopes 2010 will be better....

Mom says you have to try and find da good in everyfing...

so dis is what she came up wif

 2009...da bad/good stuff...

Bad...Papa needing heart

Good...papa getting heart and feeling better than he has in years!!!!

Bad.. Daddy's Uncle dying

Good..His relationship with his dad is amended and now they have a better stronger relationship than they ever had

Bad ...Furnace fires

Good, there is no good, ...mom just calls them

"Bookends of 2009"