I'm writing this final entry from my home in Granger. As I drove out of dad's neighborhood yesterday I shuffled my music on my phone and the first song to come up was "I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends." And I thought to myself, how fitting! We are entering our "new normal" of life without mom here on earth with us. She will always be with us in our hearts and in spirit. But we finally laid mom's body to rest last weekend. And what a weekend it was! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful weekend to celebrate. My sister had to stop at the funeral home to pick up a few things and the man working said they have never had a funeral procession as big as they did on Saturday. The flowers that our friend Rosemary from Heritage Flowers in Crown Point made were gorgeous. Mom would have loved them. So many friends came from near and far to celebrate mom's life with us. Thank you to everyone. And those that couldn't attend but sent their condolences we thank you as well. The luncheon at Innsbrook was a little crazy! Mom had planned dad's 80th birthday for that day well over a year ago. Leave it to mom to sort of plan her own funeral! But the party was to be in the large room in the evening. That room was booked during the day so we had to use the two smaller rooms. Well, we didn't quite fit in there. But that was a good problem to have had I think. I've attended funeral luncheons where there weren't many people in attendance. So I consider it a blessing to have had so many people there. Thank you to everyone for putting up with us scrambling to find chairs for everyone! We will continue to celebrate mom forever, when we gather with friends and remember funny stories (and there are lots of them!) or just share a special memory. Please do that with dad and the family. And a big thank you to Chad from the Crawpuppies band for his surprise appearance and rendition of "Simply the Best." Our family are Crawpuppies groupies. And Tina Turner wasn't available! And finally, we couldn't have gotten through these past five months without Pastor Mark. He's been there for our family in so many ways. And if you were at the church service and saw the picture change from mom's picture to another lady's picture, I have to tell you that that was our mom playing a trick on us from heaven! That was a picture of a lady from the funeral the day prior. No one was at the computer to change the picture. It just happened. So I believe mom made a new friend in heaven, just like she always made new friends here on earth. We thought it was hilarious! We ended the weekend with Lucy and Annie getting baptized (dad's great granddaughtrers.) I think Pastor Mark needs a vacation!
     Now on to dad. This is his second week back at work and he's doing well. His assistant Mary and some coworkers decorated his office to welcome him back and the office had lunch brought in. They gave him a big welcome back! Thank you Stifel! And many  thanks to Mary and our cousin Larry for holding down the fort while dad was away, you both are amazing! Dad still needs oxygen but we think he will eventually be able to get off it. He had a sleep study and has severe sleep apnea and is getting his equipment for that today. We are hoping that it will help with his oxygen needs during the day. He continues to do breathing exercises and physical therapy at home. He can make it down the steps to the lake and has been driving his boat...that's the best therapy for him! He is going to the cottage this weekend and as I said, we are beginning all our "firsts" without mom but together we will forge ahead and make more memories, because we are so thankful to have dad here with us. We love him more than words can say and couldn't ask for a better father, grandfather or great grandfather. And if you are lucky to be his friend then you are blessed as well. A song we chose for mom's slideshow was "Reunion" by Bon Jovi. Give it a listen. This isn't how the story ends, it's just a fork along the road.
Take care,
Lisa
P.S. I can't believe my sister sent flowers in a box of wine to the funeral home. She can't behave anywhere!