Cartoons

My Dad has been drawing this little guy since at least WWII. He doesn't have a name that I know of, but pops up here and there on napkins, placemats, birthday cards, etc.
In the last few years Mom has found them in the morning paper. Daddy would read the paper before Mom and draw cartoons in them. Many times making commentary on an ad for this or that. They are all cute, but some of them are hilarious. His last cartoon was just 12 days before he passed away.
I'd like to find a way to self publish his cartoons, as I know the rest of the family would treasure them. Is there a way to do this inexpensively? Kinko's in a spiral bound book or something? Any advice would be welcome.

Coping

It's amazing to me what a comfort my friends and colleagues have been. Susan brought dinner on Sunday when we were all at Mom's. Pam has offered to give Mom an appraisal on the house, if she needs it (which I don't think she does) at a very reduced price and the list goes on. The kind words in person, by phone, e-mail, blog and cards have been a great comfort. Thank you all. All of these people reaching out to us in a very genuine way helps tremendously.
I've been helping Mom sort through the myriad of paperwork, gathering great photos of Daddy over the years, nursing a sick chicken and working. This has been good therapy, too.
My dear cousin, Susanna, is making a memorial website for Daddy, so we've been sending her tons of photos. I hope she doesn't get overwhelmed and cry "Uncle". Pun intended.
Things are shaping up for a memorial service. We are going to plant a tree (probably a redwood) in John Morgan Park, just a couple of blocks from Mom and Daddy's home of 50+ years. John Morgan was a colleague of Daddy's at Campbell PD in the late 50s and was a former Police Chief. We'll have a memorial service at the tree planting and anyone can say what ever is on their mind. Then we'll have a BBQ there in the park. Daddy would've liked this, because he loved to BBQ and wasn't a coat and tie kind of guy.
My sister Jeanie, found out that the US Navy (of which he is a vet) will take his ashes out to sea, have a brief ceremony and send us the latitude and longitude of his internment. Very fitting and I think Daddy would approve, as he told us, "Send me back to the earth".

Bye, Daddy

My Dad, Clyde Harris, passed away this morning. It's been a really rough week. He fell on Monday morning, not the first time this has happened. Mom called right away and Pat and I went over and got him up and into his lazy boy. He was complaining of back pain, which is understandable, and again, this has happened before. We gave him a couple vicodin and figured his back pain would ease up. Later that day, Mom called the advice nurse at Kaiser and they advised we bring him in. We couldn't move him, because he was in so much pain, so we called an ambulance.
We were totally shocked when the docs told us he had broken his back. T10 and T9, in the middle of his back. They got him a back brace and had him on pain meds, but he was miserable. In so much pain and not lucid at all.
Friday morning we got a call that he had taken a turn for the worse during the night. Mom, Pat and I went to the hospital and Daddy was miserable. My sister, Karen and her two kids, Marcus and Megan arrived later.
We had a conference with three of the docs and decided that it was time to let him go. I had talked with my sister, Jeanie, who was flat on her back, recovering from foot surgery earlier this week and she was in agreement. Daddy was getting pneumonia and had an infection. There is no way he would recover from this. We ordered the docs to take him off antibiotics and oxygen and give him an IV drip to keep him comfortable. This is the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life, but know it was the right one and what Daddy would want.
Pat and I left the hospital around 11 pm. I told Daddy I love him and he said I love you, too, babe. He was sort of sleeping then.
He passed away peacefully in his sleep at 7:45 this morning and Mom and Karen were with him. We all had a nice steak dinner at Mom's tonight (which Daddy would've loved).
We don't know if there's going to be a memorial service or not, as the family is divided on this. Daddy will be cremated and we'll figure out what we want to do when we are not so worn out.
I'm tired, so, so very sad, but am confident that my beloved father is free of pain and in a better place.

My Dad

My poor Dad fell on Monday. To make a verrrrry long story short, he broke his back, T9 and T10, in the middle of the back where a woman's bra strap would be. He's in a back brace, in a lot of pain, and not totally lucid. We're not sure if it's the pain meds or the CO2 buildup he is having. The docs and nurses (who are wonderful) say it's probably a bit of both. We are trying to take things one day at a time - that's just about all we can do. Except we visit, try to cheer him up, help him eat, tell him we love him. It's all very stressful and sad. I'm afraid it's the end of the trail for him.
It's a helpless feeling, not being able to "fix" your loved one and still trying to work and function on a daily basis.
I don't know what else to do. Just trying to be here and be strong for the rest of the family.

Chicken update

Our two girls seem to be fine. The antibiotics are doing their thing - stools are now solid. I think we are fine. Thank goodness. Next weekend we'll rearrange the coop for winter and maybe in about a month think about procuring a couple more birds. I am relieved, but still check on them twice a day.

I can't take this...

Goldie, our beautiful Wellsummer (on the left) died in my lap this morning. That's two hens gone in four days. I am so upset and sad. Grieving for a chicken.
I went to the feed store first thing this morning and talked to the owner, Sam. He said to put this antibiotic in their water. I ran over to Mom's and Goldie was laying down, barely alive. Sam said she was probably dehydrated. I picked her up and started trying to get the medicated water into her. She was drinking it and seemed to perk up a bit. She moved around a bit and even clucked a couple of times. I even got her to drink some on her own out of the cup. I thought I could nurse her back to health. Then she just shuddered and died in my lap. Waaaaaaa.
Wili and Charlene seemed fine. I worked today and went back around 5:30 - they were eating and drinking their medicine water. Tomorrow I'm going to tear apart their quarters and disinfect it. I don't know what else to do. We'll just have to watch them carefully and hope we don't have any more casualties. I don't know if I can take it.

One less chicken

I just found out our pretty girl, Wynona, died today. I am so bummed out. Mom said she was fine at 2pm. I was there at 4:30 and she seemed a little lethargic, but I thought it was the heat. Mom got the duty of getting rid of her body. Sorry, Mom! I'll go over first thing in the morning and clean out the house and hopefully, the rest of our girls will be okay.
How can a person get so attached to a stupid chicken that you've had for only 2 1/2 months? I feel so sad. Yeah, I know I'll get over it. But for now, I'm bummed out.

Michelada

We were at Maria Elena's a couple of weeks ago with some friends after a bike ride on the Alviso Slough. We noticed their drink of the day was Michelada and none of us knew what that was. Kat asked the waitress what it was and she said "tecate, pacifico, corona, negra modelo, dos equis...". We were thinking. what the hell? Do they just mix up a bunch of Mexican beers?
Another waitress came to our table to explain - she spoke better English. It's beer with Clamato. Ugh. Sounds like a hangover antidote to me. Kat declined and had a regular beer.
Now after doing more research, I found a recipe for one with beer, worchestshire sauce, soy sauce, hot sauce, lime and ice. Now this sounds kind of tasty. We may have to try this.
So I guess Clamato and beer is popular in Mexico. Still sounds gross to me.