Phone calls help pass the long hours

Dear Friends and Family,
I hope your day has gone well. Mine has been OK and this evening it got better when Sylvia came to visit Marilyn and me for awhile. She is one of the fun people in our lives and has been for many years. She has been very good to Nan and continues to watch out for me with calls and a visit today. It was great to see her and to talk a bit.
Terry the nurse came today and talked a lot with Marilyn and some with me as well. She has a new critical patient and is once again very busy helping her. Terry took medical supplies that can be passed on and will pick up even more later.
I've had lots of calls from friends and family and have enjoyed every one of them. They are a real lift when things get sort of serious and somber. Nan's passing is not going to be something that can be quickly dealt with, she left a huge hole in a lot of hearts, certainly mine. This evening Steve showed me the obit that appeared in the Brentwood paper. It had the color photo of mom where she looks so good and was a nice writeup. I'm glad she is getting the recognition she deserves.
Last night I slept some better and did not get out of bed for good until 7 am. First time was at 5 but after walking around a bit the back let me go back to sleep for awhile. Star was clamped to my side all night. Poor doggie is really going through a tough time and it shows.
I've processed lots of orders today and starting scheduling this afternoon and evening. I have plenty to see next week and they are spread around, Pacifica, Cotati, Oakhurst which is near Yosemite, San Francisco, Tracy, Rancho Cordova... I will be traveling a bit next week. Marilyn will head home sometime the beginning of next week but she is glad to be here tonight. At her home in Rhode Island a snow storm is raging, the town is just about shut down and we complain about 35 degree temps at night.
Tomorrow I leave for Jason and Jo's home at MBA. On Friday evening the youth are putting on a drama about Christmas, then there are Christmas programs on Sabbath and an afternoon Messiah presentation, that evening more Christmas fun and then on Sunday career day where I will give 5 presentations of the same material to students. I'm going to drive to Art and Connie's home for the evening. On Monday morning I'll drive to Pacifica for an appraisal and then on to San Pablo for a second one and then home. The dogs will help keep me company as I travel.
I am getting more used to the reality that Nan is not coming back, its a very hard thing to accept. Every time she went away in the past 38 years she came back filled with joy and excitement about her various trips.
Please pray for our family, we all have tough and rough moments when we sense the loss all over again. Traveling in the motorhome that we picked out together and set up with all the stuff Nan loves to have on board, that will be a challenge. I am determined to not stop but to keep on living even though my heart is only partially in it. I don't have a clear sense of what Nan would want for me if she were advising me before she died, we never had that talk at all as she did not want to die or even consider it as a possibility.
So I wish each of you a good night or a good morning and thank you for the cards which continue to come in, the flowers which continue to grant this home a wonderful fragrance and the calls and emails. You make it possible to move forward and I thank you.

love

tim and marilyn