Jul 22, 2007

Could have been us up there! :-)

Okay, probably not... But, it could have been... The 'cars' that take visitors up in the Arch evidently had a malfunction. A line snapped. It is so weird that we had talked to the Tour Guide that rode up with us about that very thing. So, one of the lines snaps, and in the process hits some kind of electrical line and shorts everything out. People were stuck in the 'eggs' for TWO HOURS! I cannot imagine how hot it got in there, given how hot it got in just the 4 minutes we were in there! Apparently, some people at the top opted to walk down the stairs instead of waiting for things to get sorted out. I don't blame them - after all, there really are only so many pictures you can take out of the little windows... :-)


Mom is back home again. Yes, we had a trip to the hospital again, but we think we are finally down to the root of several of the problems Mom has been having. We have each had to work through Dad's passing in our own ways. Mom really didn't get a chance to do that with her surgery and getting sick and everything. After talking with a doctor, she decided that for now, it's best if we move Dad's stuff out of her house. I took on that task this afternoon. Much of it was clothing which held little to no sentimental value to me (read: was a little easier to pack up). Other things made me stop and think or remember. I am not a golfer by any stretch, nor do I plan on taking it up. But, Dad was. And packing up all the golf trinkets, figures, and other knick-knacks proved a bit harder than I even imagined it would. Then, there are the little things - Jawa collection, a couple computer games that he did not get to show off to me yet, a couple of baseball prints on the wall, the military flag we received when he passed away... I'm sure in time, Mom will want some of those things brought back out in order to have a little bit of what we remember of Dad, but for now, we are helping her come to the full understanding that he is no longer with us in the way he was not so very long ago. We will always miss him.

1 comment:

  1. Well, when Dean and I drove down to Arkansas 3 or 4 years ago, we came by way of St. Louis. Dean used to be an ironworker and he always wanted to see the arch. Since it was less than 100 miles longer to go straight out 70, then down 55, we did it. Dean is closterphobic and I didn't want to go up by myself, so we opted to not go to the top. I don't want him to know about this problem, or I'll never get him up there if we ever go back!

    Thank you for packing away your Dad's stuff. I had asked her when we were down for the funeral if she wanted me to help her do that and she told me she wasn't ready yet and she didn't think it would bother her. I knew better. But it never dawned on me until I read your post that that was what a lot of the problem was. I suggested (rather Dean did and I relayed it to your mom) that she get on a plane and come up her for a visit once she's healed from her surgery. Then, she will be back at school again when she gets back home and she won't have so much to to think! Just a thought. Whatyya think?

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