My Aunt Kathy was taken from us on Wednesday, January 16th. She was such a lovely person. She was quick to smile and her laugh was infectious. She always had time to listen to the kids' stories and sent them the most thoughtful gifts. As a kid, we would drive to Chicago to visit every Christmas and I always thought her house was so fun. Their house had a great fireplace, a fun dog, a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf in the living room along with a huge rug that covered the whole floor. I thought it was cool that they didn't have carpet, but the rug covered the whole space. It's weird what kids think is cool. She gave me New Kids on the Block stuff one year for Christmas when I was completely obsessed as a teen. One year, Adam and I were having a sleepover at their house with our cousins, Emily and Gail, and everyone was excited that were were having these special Chicago style hot dogs for dinner. They were breaded and covered in poppy seeds. I wasn't sure about the poppy seeds. I mean, why were there seeds on my hot dog?! I ate it...because everyone was so pumped about it, but later I didn't feel well. I remember throwing up all over the huge rug in the living room that I loved so much as my brother and cousins slept. Aunt Kathy heard and came in to comfort me and clean up. I was mortified, but extremely grateful that she took care of me. Why does this memory keep popping into my brain? I'm not sure, it seems like a weird one, but maybe because it shows how selfless and caring she was. I miss you,
Kathy. Cancer sucks.
The visitation for Kathy was on Sunday. We left for Chicago right after breakfast to ensure we would be there on time. Four hours into the six hour trip, the van starts shaking intermittently. Being a Sunday, not much is open and we end up at a Walmart Tire Center in Bloomington. We think we're overdue on an alignment but they don't do those so we settle for 2 new front tires to replace our bald ones (while kicking ourselves that we hadn't checked the tires before we left). We spent an hour and a half wandering around Walmart waiting. We played "Where's Hannah" in the Valentine section. Can you spot her?
Once back on the road there were no more problems and we made it to the visitation. We are eternally grateful that we were able to be there to be with our family. I believe that it's necessary to mourn as a group. To support each other. To hear stories and look at pictures. To be present. To hug and cry. After the visitation, we went to the hotel with the Iowa Lueder's where the kids were a delightful distraction from everyone's emotions.
Hannah and Grandpa, photobombed by Kenzie.
Monday morning we gathered for Kathy's funeral. It was a beautiful service. We laughed, cried, and remembered. Hannah sat next to me and held my hand the whole time.
The service was followed by a lunch at Francesca's Tavola in Arlington Heights. The meal was fantastic and it was great to be with family for a little bit longer before hitting the road again. Hannah said it was "the best restaurant ever" because she got to sit by Aunt Ann AND put her own sauce on her pasta. Zane and Kenzie were thrilled with their gelato!
Mason stayed in Chicago an extra night to fly to San Diego the next morning for a conference. The kids and I started our drive back to Columbia at 3pm. I'm proud of the van for waiting until we cleared all the tolls before it started shaking again...I can only handle so much at once. We pulled off at a rest area to investigate but I wasn't able to figure anything out as I have zero knowledge about cars. After some cursing and crying (it'd been an emotional day), I slowly continued on the highway to the next large town...which happened to be Bloomington again. Back at the SAME Walmart we were in the day before, they told me one of the back tires was now bald (what?!) and we probably needed that alignment we'd been talking about yesterday. They hadn't added alignments to their service options overnight, and nowhere else was open since it was both late and MLK day. From their waiting room I made an appointment to get it checked out the next morning, booked a cheap hotel, and scouted nearby restaurants. The Mexican place nearby had all we needed.
The kids were troopers about the whole adventure and were happy to veg and watch more tv (and miss school on Tuesday).
Our appointment Tuesday morning was at Farm and Fleet and they said it would take an hour for an alignment and a new tire. We played more "Where's Hannah" in the store.
And had fun with cowboy boots.
The van was done after 2 hours (not 1) and we were back on the road...or so we thought. It started shaking as soon as we reached 60 mph so we sadly mad a U-turn and returned to Farm and Fleet. After another hour and a half they told me it was the CV axles that need to be replaced, but don't worry, it's safe to drive with the shaking. Great. They couldn't replace the axles and we needed to get home so I set the cruise for the lowest possible safe speed and we inched (or so it seemed) closer to home for the next 4 hours. There was other excitement mixed in such as Hannah saying her chest was tight, Zane scalding his hand on hot coco, and the van door getting stuck open at a gas station because the kids opened it when the gas door was open, and pouring rain. Needless to say, my nerves were shot by the time we made it safely home and I was eternally grateful to my friend, Susan, who had dropped off a bag of food to have for dinner along with a bottle of wine. The van was dropped off at our local mechanic on the way to school on Wednesday. We got it back on Thursday and while they fixed the CV axles, they also informed us that the new front tires we got were "out of round" and needed to be replaced. We took care of that today.
But...I'm glad we went. Good bye, Aunt Kathy. I love you.
