January 10, 2015 Happy New Year Everyone! We made it into the New Year! So much has been happening since our last update….where to begin? Back in September, Chris’s grandfather (my dad) made his final journey west from Texas to San Diego. He was in great spirits when he arrived on the afternoon of September 18 for what was to be a combination family and USS Laws reunion. Grandpa had all of the logistics planned well in advance to have his 85 year old younger brother and his family, grandchildren, myself, and all of his shipmates associated with the USS Laws all in one venue. We spent the evening of his arrival playing cribbage, reminiscing about his recently departed wife who passed away just a few short weeks before, and how happy he was to see all of the family he loved so dearly in one room. We stayed up late with 10 of us crammed into his hotel room talking and laughing until the late hours of the evening. We all said good-night and planned to get together for breakfast the following morning. He was up early calling everyone on the telephone to make sure none of us were late for breakfast at 8. As we all wiped the sleep from our eyes, and readied ourselves for the day, the most unthinkable happened…he collapsed and was gone. Just that quick. I’ve thought about his final hours and I have to say, though we miss him dearly, what a great way to go. We had the best night prior…it really was like a huge going away party that none of us realized we were having…love, laughter and family. My father was a good man who exuded love and kindness. Most of all he was the pillar of support for our entire family and always our greatest cheerleader. We are grateful that he took that airplane ride to San Diego to see us all one last time. We love him and miss him dearly. Before we knew it, Halloween was upon us and we decided to lay low and enjoy the stream of trick-or-treaters at our door. Thanksgiving came and went with a wonderful dinner at Chris’s house with our family and Chris’s longtime childhood friend David Hice and his family. We enjoyed an extra special Christmas this year when Chris’s cousin Nikki flew in from Florida to spend two glorious non-stop weeks with us. We were out and about everyday enjoying the sights of San Diego and we even made an overnight trip to Long Beach to enjoy a wonderful house concert with great musicians and friends. New Year’s Eve was celebrated Montera family style where we all gather at home to ring in the New Year surrounded by those that we love. Good food throughout the evening and a little champagne at midnight. I have to confess, Ray & I made it to 10:30 but the youngsters stayed up to ring in the New Year well past midnight. So here we are in 2015 with our calendars filling up through March already. Chris has been invited to visit Homes for Our Troops in Boston the week of February 9th. We hope to secure a place in their build process for a special adaptive home for Chris in 2016. You can check out this organization at https://hfotusa.org/ . I have been following this organization for the past 2 years and have to say that they are in the top tier for managing donations to build homes for the most severely injured veterans. As a mother, what concerns me the most is the future for my children. A special adaptive home for Chris is the foundation for him moving forward in life. And finally, Chris will be scheduled for surgery that he has been putting off for the past several months. He hopes to have this done upon our return from Boston in February. Recovery will be 4-6 weeks of downtime. For this reason, he will be taking a couple of months off from school. We are confident all will go well and he will be back up and into his routine before we know it. We are looking forward to 2015! Lots of love to everyone who continues on this journey with us. April
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 03:03:03 +0000
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