Well.....Scheiße!

 Good morning, fellow Chanters!

Gonna be a short one this week and, unfortunately, my normal humorous/glib tongue won't be making much of an appearance.

First the good news.  Miss B's surgery which replaced her nasal feed tube with a feed tube inserted into her stomach was successful and appears to be doing wonders for her.  It's only been a few days, but she  seems more aware of where she is and what's around her.

 

She also seems to have developed interests in other things.

Mom, I'd like to try a sip of that Chardonnay

In the above photo, Mrs J and LJW had decided I needed to go to our Winemaker Friends release party for their new Chardonnay and Cabernet releases. 

And that requirement is due to the bad news.

So, there we were, downtown San Antonio at the hospital the day prior to Miss B's release.  This past Wednesday for those keeping track.  Nice and peaceful visit.  Miss B is in a great mood.  All is well in the world.

Then, Mrs. J gets a phone call from one of our neighbors.  "Why is there an ambulance and Sheriff cars on your property?"

Since I'm looking at 4 of the 6 beings that live on the property, only my Sister and her housemate are on the property to answer questions.  So, I pick up my phone and call my sister.

Her housemate answers.

"juvat, your sister's dead! I need you here."

Well....Scheiße!

Mrs. J and I run to the car and head back home.  While enroute, I get a call from one of the Sheriff's deputies who's at the house.  I explain our situation and ETA and he fills us in on what's happening and asks what funeral home we want to use.  Good thing Mrs. J is in the car.  The modulating device between what I was thinking and what should come out of my mouth was broken.  Since we're on speaker, she answers for me.  

Thank you, Dear, sincerely.

He also mentions that the Justice of the Peace is enroute and will want to talk to us.  

75 miles and San Antonio traffic are between us and them.  Made it in under an hour.

The deputies (there were 2) meet us out in the yard and tell us the JP is finishing up his investigation, could we wait outside?

The JP comes out shortly thereafter and asks a few questions, nothing out of the ordinary, not that I would know what ordinary is.  He says he does not know the cause of death, but it doesn't appear to be suspicious.  However, he can't be sure without an autopsy.  Do we want one?

Remember that short circuit in my brain?  A four letter word rhyming with truck and a yes are starting down the path to my tongue, when the switch diverts it to another track and "Hell, yes!" comes out.  

"OK, but it could take up to 6 weeks to complete." Later I would learn this is a big problem across the southern border and is a result of a large influx of immigrants.  Not that LEGAL immigration is a problem, but...

A few minutes later the rep from the funeral home arrives.  I'd been pretty much under control up to now.

I completely lost it when they brought her out of the house. 

One final comment on this ordeal.  Over the last couple of days, we've been through most of her papers and have yet to find any Will or any other indications of what she wanted to happen after her passing.

Folks, if you don't have final instructions in order, dealing with the death of a family member is hard enough as it is, and I know nobody wants to think about it, but have some compassion for the people you will be leaving behind.  Just GET IT DONE!  Amazon has several different "workbooks" that can help you help your loved ones get through this.  This is the one I have.

Meeting and greeting, the two Black Dogs (plus one that didn't want to be photographed) are ours.  The three others are about to join our family.  This soiree' was intended to see if they'd get along.  Went well. Still have to check how they react to and treat the cats before they're officially adopted.

Happier times last Christmas.

Brothers and Sister

Rest in Peace, Lisa.