The first part of the year started off pretty well. At work I was hammering away on a script for the literacy night play as well as producing, directing, and emceeing the final Marvin & Jessie assembly for the year. On top of that I was also doing the televised morning news announcements. LIfe was quite busy and good. Come late March, during Spring Break, we took a nice trip up to Utah for what would be our final regular visit with Vickie's dad Alan.
When we got to see him, we took Alan to Village Inn for breakfast. He ordered the biggest and most expensive breakfast there, the chicken fried steak! I didn't care, it was probably the biggest meal he'd had in a long time and he scarfed that baby up!
Had we known then what was going to happen later, we would have just packed some of this things and brought him home with us.
Later ended up being less than a week after that breakfast. The following Saturday he had fallen and hurt his head badly. A nurse came to check him and merely gave him some ice instead of recommending a scan or some sort of concerted medical effort. Two days later, he had another fall and was admitted to the hospital with a subdural hematoma. Vickie grabbed a ride with her brother and family to see him the next day.
This will sound strange, but that was the first time I'd been without Vickie since the night before our wedding. It was rough at first. She came back 2 days later, but went up again 3 days after that to help her dad get into his new nursing home. This time it was a bit easier. She came back on Tuesday... but then we heard on Thursday that Alan was unresponsive and was admitted to the hopsital.
We went up late that same night to Salt Lake with parental emergency funds. We stayed at a Super 8 for 4 nights while going to the hospital during the day. Vickie would spend long periods of time with her father while Natalie and I hung out in the waiting room. I actually made substitute lesson plans on a waiting room computer standing up!
On Monday, Vickie made what may have been the toughest decision of her life. As Alan had been going in and out of a-fib with his heart and had been largely unresponsive, the quality of his life was not getting any better, so she chose to take him off of life support. He was moved to the palliative care ward, and as our hotel stay had expired, we stayed in the room with him for two nights, very tough nights at that.
On Wednesday, we arranged to have him taken to a hospice home that afternoon. After he was moved in, we went for a quick bite to eat. While at the restaurant, Natalie had a quick bout of nausea and threw up at 6:15p.m. Minutes later as we got into the car, Vickie got the call...Alan had passed at 6:15. We got back as quickly as we could and waited as the funeral home people took care of him. We found a motel for the night, then headed for the funeral home in the morning.
The funeral home itself was not too bad, and the director helping us was very pleasant and made things easier. He even agreed to put a bottle of Pepsi in with Alan as he was transported to Missouri. We headed home soon after, and I managed to teach for two days the following week before we headed to northwestern Missouri for the funeral.
We stayed at a truck stop in Eagleville off of I-35 for 5 nights. In that time, we made arrangements for a coffin and a gravesite. Natalie also practiced singing "Amazing Grace" for the funeral. We spent our ultra-free time vising different cemeteries to find where some of Vickie's family, including her paternal grandparents and Aunt, were interred. We also drove around the area and found that northern Missouri is quite hilly on the local roads, therefore fun to drive. The Iowa state line was close, so we ventured there twice. We also let Natalie play at a park or 2, and she got to experience what I consider REAL playground equipment.
On Saturday there was a viewing, which ended up being the 3 of us and Vickie's half sister who came in from Texas. The funeral home people graciously arranged for a CD player to be at the funeral the next day. At the funeral itself, I read a eulogy that I'd prepared and Natalie did a very nice job singing "Amazing Grace" along with Leann Rimes.
We went home the day after that. It was rough for a while for Vickie, still is in many ways. There was less than a month of school left, including Field Day where I ended the day feeling sick, making the holiday weekend a royal bummer.
A week and a half after that, the school year was over. Almost immediately, I got started on taking my license renewal classes. This actually made for a fun summer as my mind was active. I took a class on online/blended learning, an easy-peasy Powerpoint class, both online. I also went to a class for 3 days learning how to be a "champion teacher", which was helpful. In late July I began a class on early stages of writing.
Vacation-wise, we took a short jaunt to Laughlin for a dinner cruise on the Colorado River in June, then a week-long trip to Tennessee to spend time with Vickie's friend Marilyn. That was one of the best weeks I can remember!
Before we knew it, the time for school had begun. We took a very brief trip to Houston in September for a cousin's wedding, where I met some really nice people. I also had one more class to take, this one being about creating centers.
By late October, I was burnt out. Lots had happened in the course of 7 months. Vickie went on a Carnival cruise with some of her family form Halloween to November 4. Two of those days were staff development days and I had to take them off since I couldn't find a babysitter for Natalie. My Dad and his wife came for Thanksgiving and soon after I celebrated my 43rd birthday.
December brought something new for me. As I'd been getting more involved with school district issues, I met some new people also involved in that online, and met some in-person when I attended a rally. These people are highly motivated and I hope I meet more like them in the coming year.
Christmas break was long overdue and it has really helped to re-energize me. It has also helped me to realize that I've been pretty down on myself for a long time. The school year has not been spectacular, although I have a great group of kids. I no longer do the news due to the assistant principal making changes to that program...in fact the school itself has felt very dark and lifeless, and that can be a consuming thing...I've let the dark spirit consume me., and that's not healthy. I've also been paranoid about other coworkers, another piece of dark spirit. This break has helped to clear those cobwebs.
Here is hoping that the next year brings more Moore happiness!
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