Firsts - Part Seven

Today is November 8th, 2008 and Judy S and I just got home from Bishop Larsen's daughter, Tykena's wedding. I bought the new Faith Hill and Sarah Brightman Christmas Cd's, because I'm a sucker for Christmas Cd's!!! It's a weakness, I know. I listened to Sarah a little before we left for the wedding. I think she was probably Gordon's favorite female singer (at least until Abbie came along)...and an opera singer at that! Who would have thunk? I sat down in the chair and listened for a few minutes. She started to sing Silent Night and my heart was very full. I miss him so much.

On the way home tonight, we listened to Faith Hill and it was beautiful. Judy said "what is it that makes Christmas music touch your heart so much? Is it the spirit of Christ?" I believe that's a large part of it...and I believe that it's "goodwill toward men" as well. We reminisced about Christmas 2006. It was a bittersweet Christmas, but I'll talk about in another post.

On Thursday, the 21st of Dec, Judy B took me to the Marie Osmond Christmas concert. I felt a little guilty going to a concert with Gord being so sick, but Judy thought, and she was right, that I needed the distraction. Right before she picked me up, our dear neighbor, BJ, came by with gifts for the family. She brought scarves and candy bars for Gord and I and dog dishes for the dogs...gotta love a true dog lover!!!! BJ and Marlene have done many wonderful things for us this past month. I was stunned by their generosity and caring. Sometime I hope to get even, but I'm not sure I can. One night I got home and there was a real surprise out front right by the curb. There was Sally and Gordon snowmen, all decked out in their finery. Gord even had a mustache! There was a sign in front that said "We love you". It was BJ, Marlene, and Morgan. They are wonderful neighbors. I'll never forget their thoughtfulness.. Judy picked me up and off we went. Marie was just ok...but spending the time with Judy was great. It was good girl time...and I needed it.

Friday, the 22nd was a short day at work so I decided to not go in. I called up to the hospital to see how his night was and the nurse practically ordered me to stay home. She told me that she was going to tell the whole staff that if they saw me, I was to be sent home....so I did. I actually had a fairly good day, as good as I could have at that time. I wrapped some presents, make Chex Mix, talked on the phone a lot, but I didn't leave the house and it was good to be home.

The Palmer Family has always had a Christmas Party. It used to be on Christmas Eve, but after Mom passed away and the family got larger, we decided to do it the Saturday before Christmas. Well, there was no one that wanted to have a party with Gord being in the hospital...and I didn't want them to not have the party...so we compromised. We had a Christmas lunch at Judy's house. I went to the hospital that morning for a couple of hours and then went to Judy's. Everyone was there except for Heidi, Tami and Chris and their families. I wasn't sure how it could get much worse than to have to go to the lunch without either Tami or Gordon. All of Bob's family was there...even Brent and Amy, Sue's daughter and husband. Brent was very disappointed that there wasn't any of Gord's fudge or oatmeal cookies (the ones with the secret ingredient). It was a great time to be together, and Judy made it lovely as always, but was definitely not the same for anyone. I went back up to the hospital around 5:00 for a couple more hours. When I got back home that night, the heat was off...again! I really frustrated.