list 100 memories that are meaningful to me (happy or sad and anything outside and in between)

This was way back, maybe when I was like 7 or 8. We had just met Mr. Wofford, and the entire family brought him and his wife out to Old Country Buffet. As children, we didn’t really understand just how amazing he was for all his serving, but we knew he had incredible taste buds.

We would make icecream and put like everything in it, and have him try it. And every time, he could figure out exactly what was in it. Amazing!

After grandma’s funeral, we all went over to michelle’s. me annie allen andrew and ivan jumped on the trampoline. great workout, fun, and lots of pics. then annie/allen returned to cali.

Soon after my uncle passed, my grandma passed away 10/29/09 from cancer too. Didnt get to see her cuz i was visiting cali for my uncle’s funeral. saw her a few days before she passed tho. miss her. lots of heartfelt eulogies at her funeral. she loved us so much. i miss her.

The night that my uncle passed away at the ICU from cancer on 10/09/09. Definitely life changing. Got to spend some 1-on-1 w/ him before he went :(

Holiday Concerts, last year (this is like two memories).

Second holiday concert methinks, after school. There was just a… weird atmosphere. It was somber and dark, no one running around or playing cards or something. Everyone was on task and focused. Part of it was we knew Mr. V had a staph infection and everything. But when he talked to us before the concert, it was like dead silence. None of our usual antics. We listened, he kept saying how proud he was of us. It’s like he knew he was leaving.

Fast forward to the next day. Mr. V was gone. We thought he was hospitalized for the staph infection, but even then, he would have called the school to tell us that. Heck, he told us he would wheel himself on stage and conduct us if that happened. But Reed subbed for him in class, people were freaking out. Koss had to learn the guitar solo that V played, without music, the day of the concert.

I went to Kyles for a quick dinner, and like ran back to the school. There was about four or five kids there. There was no word from Mr. V, and none of the other teachers knew what was going on. We called his house, his cell; every number we could think of. People were going to skip and go to his house to see what was up. No answer any way we tried.

The concert was terrible; I know I spent most of the time talking to E and T-Mac when we weren’t playing. We didn’t really care about the concert then.

The school never ended up giving us a straight answer. We know, too well, what happened, but we still love and respect him. He is going to be idolized in this school from now on. Hopefully, one day in the future, we can meet with him again and tell him how much he has impacted and changed our lives. He was a great teacher, utterly dedicated to us. I hope he realizes that…

Nurse told me in private that Uncle Brian doesnt have much time left on 10/08/09. His lab results were way off (normal range for kidneys is 4-15, his was 157). That afternoon, his blood pressure dropped from 100’s to the 50’s. Was in extreme pain 2:30 to 6:30 when he got transferred to the 4th floor ICU. Couldnt see him until 8:00. He was breathing hard thru the oxygen mask. Suffering and painful for him. His family (wife, daughter, son), my dad (his older brother), and I (niece) were all there until the end. We took breaks in the waiting room, taking turns to see him & hold his hand (cuz it was almost unbearable to see his pain). He finally wanted to give up, couldnt take it anymore. The doc said that the machines that’s keeping him alive would only give him a few more days & he’d suffer the whole time. My uncle didnt want the machines anymore, he was ready to go. We had to let him go. So we told the nurses to turn off the machines, knowing that he’d only have a few minutes left to live. We each had 1-on-1 time w/ him. I told him that I’d love it if he could live, but I’ll let him go cuz his comfort is whats most important. I couldnt stop crying. He couldnt respond w/ words cuz of the mask, but he responded in tears, smiles, and by gripping my hand tighter. I told him I love him so so much, that I’m thankful for all that he’s done/been for me, that I’ll think of him everyday, that I’ll look at pics of us all the time, that if I ever have a son, I’ll name him Brian (after him), that he was like a dad to me, and that we’ll have a family reunion in heaven someday. As he passed, we all stood by his bed, holding his hand, telling him that he was the best husband/father/brother/uncle ever, and that we love him. He suffering/pain was gone in his last moments cuz he was knocked out. After he passed at 3:30am, he looked so peaceful, at rest, even happy. He actually had a smile on his face.

Miss you so much, Uncle Brian.
Thanks for being everything that you were to me.
Love you.

Uncle Brian’s funeral was 10/15/09. Can never forget him. Gave a eulogy at the wake on 10/14/09. He was only 46 & died from liver cancer. He was a relentless jokester, extremely generous, loving, affectionate, encouraging, caring, everything. He was definitely loved by many & is missed by many.

RIP uncle Brian 10/09/09 @ 3:30am.

29. The different smells of my mom’s hands from my childhood: clorox and softener after she had done the laundry, and Estee Lauder’s Youth Dew when she came to say good-bye on Friday nights before going out with my dad. My mom’s hands.

26. Turning a corner in Florence, and then, unexpectedly, seeing the Ponte Vecchio right in front of us for the very first time. Even if it’s not the most famous sight in Italy, it had become part of our imagination, having seen it so many times on a postcard my mom kept from her travels back in the 70’s. When we saw it in Florence, my sister and I held hands and shrieked like children.

27. My mom holding me after I had spent the better part of three days crying, without even stepping out of the house, and barely even getting out of bed. Finally telling her how incredibly sad and miserable I really felt, and admitting it to myself, as well.

28. The day I made arrangements to take Kelly out of the hospital/nursing home where she had been for months, and going for a ride all day. The simple, pure happiness we both felt as I drove aimlessly, and she rolled down the window, feeling the sun on her face. She asked me to turn up the volume to U2’s Achtung Baby, and both of us started singing at the top of our lungs.

So, this was probably when I was in like 2nd grade, a year or two after gramps passed away. Our dog Skeeter had just gotten spayed, so she had stitches, and of course they forgot to give her a cone so she wouldn’t pick at them.

So, of course, she did. I was in the basement with Fuzzy, and I was watching him play Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. He was at the very end when my mom just screamed for him to come upstairs, and I had to stay in the basement and not play. Skeeter had pulled out her stitches and her guts actually fell out onto the floor. My dad had been napping and had the pillow print on his face and no shirt on. He just grabbed the dog, held her so her stomach was up, and like threw everything back in.

Mama drove them to the pet hospital, where we had to pay for them to fix her up and put in more stitches, which is totally lame. Fuzzy had to clean the blood off the floor, and I was stuck in the basement, looking at the screen for that final level. I wasn’t allowed to play it because Fuzzy wanted to be the one to win (and as the older one of us, he could beat me up if I tried). But yeah, somehow Skeeter was perfectly fine after, but she hated the cone because it was too big, so she couldn’t reach her food. We had to pick up handfuls and have her eat that way.

Good times, good times…