Hello World.
It's funny, how we are with our kids. After December, there was New Year. Then there was me getting sick. I saw it coming. Wifey didn't get me Emergen-C as requested lol. Regardless, I got slammed. Well I consider it slammed. Headache. Body aches. No fever. Cough. No voice. Throat that hurt like it was on fire. And lots and lots of congestion. Wifey took great care of me, and I roughed through it. We had little sleep between the two of us due to kids and family events. I stayed away to not make her sick for once. Took Tylenol. She made me tea.
I went to work for two days while sick and just sucked it up because I could speak again. Stayed away from my clients and declined handshakes stating why which they greatly appreciated.
Come today I feel tons better. Just the annoying cough now and necessity of blowing my nose every time I bend over lol.
Then Wifey gets home with the kids and texts me about my oldest. She's 7, but sounds like 10. Always smiles and flowers. Apparently she has a headache and her tummy doesn't feel good.
Immediately both of us go into Momma and Poppa Bear mode. I'm asking questions and Wifey is giving me answers. She's updating me on the situation as I pick up meds on the way home. We bend our night to focus on her which does include me postponing the work I had left tonight for a client of mine.
Here it is 2am, and I've spent over four hours on this server fixing the stupidest buggy software I think I've ever touched. You know what? I don't care.
Our daughter is sleeping peacefully in her bed. Our other two are dreaming quietly, and Wifey is getting some much needed rest.
Our kids are worth it.
I'm going to be very direct with this post. I've been thinking about how to write what was going on in my head since last Thursday, and then Friday happened.
I lost my Father in Law last Friday night. My Wife and her siblings lost their Father. My Mother in Law lost her Husband. The entire family, immediate, cousins, aunt's, uncle's, nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends, all lost someone they loved very much. An amazing Man. A Man I was honored to know.
Max was so many things to so many people. He knew everyone. He could get you the name and number of someone who could get you anything. He was a law enforcement officer, an auto mechanic, a carpenter, a plumber, a general contractor, a professional (yet scary) driver, a protective Father, a loving Husband, a rambunctious Grandfather (who shared his food), a respected Father in Law, and a Man who fought to enjoy life as much as he could in the end.
The two most important men in my life are My Father and My Father in Law. They both provide wisdom & guidance to me as a Father, take on the next level of responsibility in being a Grandfather to my children, and are the cornerstones of my own family which Ann gave me.
Losing Max was unexpected. We knew his health was declining but he wasn't slowing down. We expected to have him for a while longer. Life doesn't work on our schedule. Time is uncontrollable. Things happen and we can only do our best to accept what has happened, but that comes with time. Time to cry and hurt, time to remember and miss, and time to heal and feel better. It will certainly take time to accept Max has moved on because he was such an important Man to everyone. We will remember him forever. The places he has been, the things he has done, the people he has loved.
We love you Dad.