life goes on...
Good grief! Is today really only Tuesday? I swear the days are blurring together and chronology of past events are sort of muddled at this point.
I can say we did actually cremate Daddy today and pick up his death certificates. As an aside I should point out that there's a block of apartments next to Winford Funeral Home and one group of units overlooks the crematorium chamber. That should make for interesting after school viewing activities. Those guys at Windford are freaking fantastic, let me tell you. They got on VITAS's case for us and the final papers went through lickety split. We cremated dad at 3:00 today. The chamber itself is like a ceramic kiln (my dad joked about being barbecued a few weeks before he died) where the entire coffin gets slid in and slow baked for about 2 days (versus burning). One of the funeral workers explained all the details to my mom (who was sort of turning shades of green as they did so) but as he was speaking rapidly in Taiwanese some of the words escaped me. He was a really cool guy though and quite happy to talk about his profession and the details of funeral work.
I also learned today that death certificates sent various places all need to be original documents. It makes sense of course, but just didn't cross my mind. Another thing that didn't occur to me was how HIPAA might make acting as my mom's liaison when communicating with caseworkers a little more complicated. Again, it makes perfect since because I could very well be some evil con artist trying to steal someone's assets. We're all in the the wait-until-the-agency-contacts-you phase at the moment.
Flowers and cards still come to our home. I read the kind sentiments to Mom who is too tired to do so herself. I think she's touched but part of me suspects that she's a little jaded too. We're all a little worn out. The individual cards from my dad's colleagues are the most heartfelt and heartbreaking. From a fellow engineer named Quintillo:
"I was Michael's colleague and we rode the van pool every day...At work he did most the mechanical designs on my projects. He did not work just to finish. He always worked towards excellence....I admire him for whom he was; good person, a wonderful human being. It was an honor to work and share with him. You must be fill of pride for his legacy."
I forget that even though it feels like ages to us, to everyone else, my dad's death seemed kind of sudden. I'd like to think I'm coping okay, but I am fretting over my mother a bit. I'd like her to move in with my husband and I or at the very least, flip the house and move to Austin.
Anyhow, life goes on. I'm thinking about Monday Munchies again, pondering over Trent's new album, debating whether or not my mom should get a Pomeranian or Chihuahua as a pet, thinking about a new kitten to replace Molly, musing about work, trying to remember who all I still need to email for news and thankyous etc. etc.
I can say we did actually cremate Daddy today and pick up his death certificates. As an aside I should point out that there's a block of apartments next to Winford Funeral Home and one group of units overlooks the crematorium chamber. That should make for interesting after school viewing activities. Those guys at Windford are freaking fantastic, let me tell you. They got on VITAS's case for us and the final papers went through lickety split. We cremated dad at 3:00 today. The chamber itself is like a ceramic kiln (my dad joked about being barbecued a few weeks before he died) where the entire coffin gets slid in and slow baked for about 2 days (versus burning). One of the funeral workers explained all the details to my mom (who was sort of turning shades of green as they did so) but as he was speaking rapidly in Taiwanese some of the words escaped me. He was a really cool guy though and quite happy to talk about his profession and the details of funeral work.
I also learned today that death certificates sent various places all need to be original documents. It makes sense of course, but just didn't cross my mind. Another thing that didn't occur to me was how HIPAA might make acting as my mom's liaison when communicating with caseworkers a little more complicated. Again, it makes perfect since because I could very well be some evil con artist trying to steal someone's assets. We're all in the the wait-until-the-agency-contacts-you phase at the moment.
Flowers and cards still come to our home. I read the kind sentiments to Mom who is too tired to do so herself. I think she's touched but part of me suspects that she's a little jaded too. We're all a little worn out. The individual cards from my dad's colleagues are the most heartfelt and heartbreaking. From a fellow engineer named Quintillo:
"I was Michael's colleague and we rode the van pool every day...At work he did most the mechanical designs on my projects. He did not work just to finish. He always worked towards excellence....I admire him for whom he was; good person, a wonderful human being. It was an honor to work and share with him. You must be fill of pride for his legacy."
I forget that even though it feels like ages to us, to everyone else, my dad's death seemed kind of sudden. I'd like to think I'm coping okay, but I am fretting over my mother a bit. I'd like her to move in with my husband and I or at the very least, flip the house and move to Austin.
Anyhow, life goes on. I'm thinking about Monday Munchies again, pondering over Trent's new album, debating whether or not my mom should get a Pomeranian or Chihuahua as a pet, thinking about a new kitten to replace Molly, musing about work, trying to remember who all I still need to email for news and thankyous etc. etc.
posted by cchang at 11:43 PM
2 Comments:
If she does move here and wants a toy-size dog, maybe someone like these folks could help? The timing was just funny, I read your blogpost this morning, and then one of my other friends posted about them on her blog shortly thereafter ;)
Hmmm, could be a sign.
We're still not sure about the dog thing. My mom muses that if I suddenly get pregnant next year, that'll easily be her new "pet." I guess it's sort of the same. LOL.
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