I’m PUBLISHED!! Isn’t that the distinction between an amateur and professional? Or is it if you’ve received payment? Oh well, whichever it is, I’m excited because one of my photos was picked to be in the Seventh Edition of the Schmap Washington DC Guide. It’s a map application that you can download to your iPhone/iPod or computer and contains photos of the landmarks in that particular area.
My photo of St. John’s Church was picked. Here’s a link to how my photo is displayed and credited in the iPhone version of the Washington DC Schmap guide.
Happy Birthday Jeannifer and Congratulations on your new single, “Se Que Falle”! — Tus amigos y familia en los Estados Unidos!
Vive La Musica site to hear Jeannifer’s single
In honor of Inauguration 2009, I uploaded some photos I took several weeks ago during my own mini photo walk (at lunchtime) in Washington DC. Enjoy!
Below is a photo of the top of St. John’s Episcopal Church, the church where President Barack Obama had his morning service today.
In memory of my father’s birthday, I scanned in some photos of that my sister and I found when we were closing up his house. No tears today, just happy memories to share! We miss you, Dad!
Set of photos on my flickr site | A slideshow version of the photos on my flickr site
I will be scanning more photos into that set over time, check back often :)
Well, I’m back home in Maryland after being in Florida for pretty much the last month (on and off). For those of you who didn’t know, my father passed away on November 21st. He was battling cancer for the last year, yet the treatment seemed to be working, until just recently. He entered the Critical Care Unit at the beginning of November and Ronnie and I flew out to be with him. At the time, he had developed what they thought to be pnemonia in his chest and lungs. Apparently, the cancer had spread pretty rapidly and he was having trouble keeping any food down.
After being in CCU for almost two weeks, they told us that they were at a loss as to what else to do for him. Besides the fact that his cancer was everywhere, he was unable to eat because the original tumor had grown. The places they could have put a feeding tube had been overtaken by the tumor. At that point they discussed the option of hospice which Ronnie and I had never heard of before, but basically it is a service provided when you are considered terminal. You can either go to a facility, wait in the hospital, or return home, pretty much to await the end of your life and you get medical services to make you more comfortable. We were lucky to get my father into a facility near his house so that his friends and family could visit.
What was really amazing was when he first went into the hospice, he seemed like he was actually getting a bit better, but apparently it’s one of the stages. The hospice had provided us with a book that described physically and emotionally what the patient would go through and what the family could to do provide comfort.
He would fluctuate between denial and acceptance and we all tried to keep it light and follow the guidance of the hospice. I can’t even imagine what he was feeling or totally understand what he was going through. We even brought his cat, Charlotte to visit him and she really seemed to know him and liked being in his hospice room, and at one point jumped on his bed to lay next to him. It was so heart-breaking, Ronnie and I nearly lost it watching Charlotte stretch out her paw to touch his hand and at one point walked on him to sniff his face. We had to turn our heads several times.
After we initially got him into the hospice, Ronnie and I had to return to Maryland. We felt slightly OK leaving him especially with everything we’d accomplished getting his affairs in order and getting him into the hospice. We really thought he had several more weeks, even though Ronnie and I both wanted to return as soon as we could.
We returned to Florida, 3 days after we’d left, and I remember when I talked to him Thursday afternoon saying, “we’re coming back tonight; we’ll see you tomorrow,” he seemed pleasantly surprised and glad that we were returning.
Yet, his condition worsened that very night, and when we got there Friday morning he looked like a completely different person. They said he’d pulled out the tube that had been in him to sunction out the stuff in his lungs. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, moaning a lot, so they gave him more pain medication through his IV. He slept most of the day, and we didn’t really know it was the beginning of the end, so we went to get something to eat. When we returned, he seemed to be sleeping, and looked really, really weak. The hospice had called the doctor and once he arrived and examined Daddy, he let us know that it was time, that the end was close. We couldn’t believe it, so I started calling everyone, and his friend, Peter and our uncle came down. Our aunt was already with us. Yet, when he said it was close we all didn’t realize how close. At most, I’d say within the next 15 minutes, he was gone.
It’s still so unbelievable, especially how fast it all happened, and at times I still don’t believe he is gone; I miss so him much, yet I am glad that Ronnie and I could be there for him in the end. She and I together accomplished so much, during the first trip and the return one. Making the arrangements for the cremation, his house, and the adoption of his cat, Charlotte, yet, we definitely couldn’t have accomplished so much without the help of his and our family and friends. Thanks to Ita & Diana, Marylee & Jaime, Aunt Sue, Aunt Mary, Uncle Todd, Uncle Bill, Peter, and Sylvia, we really appreciate it.
