RECAP
I have been encouraged to continue the blog and will for a while. I have no idea how many read it even though I have tried 4 times to install a counter. I am blog illiterate.
As I reported in the blog on Wednesday April 8 Lou was having trouble with a cough but spent most of the day in a coma type sleep. I told Mark and he and Mary Kathryn came out that night. Before they got here Mark had called Robin the hospice nurse who was off that day but came about 7 and worked very hard to get Lou over the coughing spell. She seemed to have something in her throat. Robin administered some drops that were supposed to dry the throat and applied a patch under her ear that was supposed to dry the throat but would take 12-24 hours to absorb. Lou didn't show excessive pain but Robin administered several doses of liquid morphine and explained to me that I could give it as often as needed. Finally about 8:30 Lou quit coughing and dropped into a deep sleep but with a labored breathing with a rasp. Mark and MK came and Robin explained what she had done. We all went to bed and I slept through the night but could hear the rasp. I got up about 7:15 and shaved. When I came out of the bathroom the rasping had stopped and I saw that her breathing had stopped. Mark came by the door and said that he heard her when he took the dog out and when he came back in he didn't hear her. He checked her and confirmed my diagnosis. We called Hospice and Debbie the night duty nurse said she would come immediately.
Before she got here Lydia Williams came by to see if I needed help as she had helped me the previous two mornings. She was distraught and hugged us. Debbie came and used a stethescope and blood pressure to confirm the death officially at 8:35. She talked to the funeral home and Bob Harrell came. Mark and I walked to the mailbox to get the mail and Bob was here when we came back. Mark helped him load Lou into his vehicle. He asked me if I had an obituary and I said I had one started. He told me that if they got it that day that they could get it to the newspapers for the next day and asked me to email it to them. We scheduled a meeting with the pastor and family at the funeral home for 1:30. Kathy and Keith were on their way from San Antonio. I updated the obit and emailed it. They returned it with minor changes and I approved that for the papers. Deb Harrell was handling their computer and asked if I needed the cost from the newspapers and I said no. I asked for Abilene Reporter-News, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Denton Record-Chronicle and the Bryan Eagle. She was able to get a response from all but Bryan by the time we met at 1:30. That was when she informed me that the FWST cost was $1001. And to repeat it Sunday would be the same price, so I only ran it once. The other papers ran 3-500 except for the Cross Plains Review who would be free but wouldn't run until next Wednesday. Noone could take the order in Bryan until the next day so it didn't run there until the morning of the funeral on Saturday. MK's brother Robert picked up his paper as he left so we got a copy that day.
Back to the internet operation, when I sent the obit to the funeral home I also sent it to all of my family and friends mailing list and posted it on the blog. When it got revised I had to send it out again. The next day I realized that Lou had a lot of names on her email that I didn't have so I mailed it to them.
Immediately we got emails of sympathy from and enoromous range of people from writers and students, regents, and friends. All of the organizations sent the information to their members. Texas Institute of Letters, West Texas Historical Association and the Texas Folklore Society was holding its 100th Anniversary meeting that weekend in Nacogdoches where it was announced and a memorial conducted.
I want to post a poem that Susan Miller wrote:
News
What's different
about this morning?
A verdin's feather clings
to velvet mesquite thorn,
bean pods rain upon the deck
and rustle as they bounce
and settle. A pair of gilded flickers
squawks in the palm crown, noisy
in their breakfasting.
The orchid blooms all faded
overnight.
A black-chinned hummingbird
has taken residence
among the pale-pink oleander
and crimson bottle brush;
sulfur-yellow butterflies
play tag above verbena beds, mating
on the wing; and yesterday,
you tell me,
Molcie died.
Underneath
my window
one scented white gardenia
opens.
I have been encouraged to continue the blog and will for a while. I have no idea how many read it even though I have tried 4 times to install a counter. I am blog illiterate.
As I reported in the blog on Wednesday April 8 Lou was having trouble with a cough but spent most of the day in a coma type sleep. I told Mark and he and Mary Kathryn came out that night. Before they got here Mark had called Robin the hospice nurse who was off that day but came about 7 and worked very hard to get Lou over the coughing spell. She seemed to have something in her throat. Robin administered some drops that were supposed to dry the throat and applied a patch under her ear that was supposed to dry the throat but would take 12-24 hours to absorb. Lou didn't show excessive pain but Robin administered several doses of liquid morphine and explained to me that I could give it as often as needed. Finally about 8:30 Lou quit coughing and dropped into a deep sleep but with a labored breathing with a rasp. Mark and MK came and Robin explained what she had done. We all went to bed and I slept through the night but could hear the rasp. I got up about 7:15 and shaved. When I came out of the bathroom the rasping had stopped and I saw that her breathing had stopped. Mark came by the door and said that he heard her when he took the dog out and when he came back in he didn't hear her. He checked her and confirmed my diagnosis. We called Hospice and Debbie the night duty nurse said she would come immediately.
Before she got here Lydia Williams came by to see if I needed help as she had helped me the previous two mornings. She was distraught and hugged us. Debbie came and used a stethescope and blood pressure to confirm the death officially at 8:35. She talked to the funeral home and Bob Harrell came. Mark and I walked to the mailbox to get the mail and Bob was here when we came back. Mark helped him load Lou into his vehicle. He asked me if I had an obituary and I said I had one started. He told me that if they got it that day that they could get it to the newspapers for the next day and asked me to email it to them. We scheduled a meeting with the pastor and family at the funeral home for 1:30. Kathy and Keith were on their way from San Antonio. I updated the obit and emailed it. They returned it with minor changes and I approved that for the papers. Deb Harrell was handling their computer and asked if I needed the cost from the newspapers and I said no. I asked for Abilene Reporter-News, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Denton Record-Chronicle and the Bryan Eagle. She was able to get a response from all but Bryan by the time we met at 1:30. That was when she informed me that the FWST cost was $1001. And to repeat it Sunday would be the same price, so I only ran it once. The other papers ran 3-500 except for the Cross Plains Review who would be free but wouldn't run until next Wednesday. Noone could take the order in Bryan until the next day so it didn't run there until the morning of the funeral on Saturday. MK's brother Robert picked up his paper as he left so we got a copy that day.
Back to the internet operation, when I sent the obit to the funeral home I also sent it to all of my family and friends mailing list and posted it on the blog. When it got revised I had to send it out again. The next day I realized that Lou had a lot of names on her email that I didn't have so I mailed it to them.
Immediately we got emails of sympathy from and enoromous range of people from writers and students, regents, and friends. All of the organizations sent the information to their members. Texas Institute of Letters, West Texas Historical Association and the Texas Folklore Society was holding its 100th Anniversary meeting that weekend in Nacogdoches where it was announced and a memorial conducted.
I want to post a poem that Susan Miller wrote:
News
What's different
about this morning?
A verdin's feather clings
to velvet mesquite thorn,
bean pods rain upon the deck
and rustle as they bounce
and settle. A pair of gilded flickers
squawks in the palm crown, noisy
in their breakfasting.
The orchid blooms all faded
overnight.
A black-chinned hummingbird
has taken residence
among the pale-pink oleander
and crimson bottle brush;
sulfur-yellow butterflies
play tag above verbena beds, mating
on the wing; and yesterday,
you tell me,
Molcie died.
Underneath
my window
one scented white gardenia
opens.
posted by Dr. Rodenberger at 8:18 PM
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