One More Goodbye (HOL 69)

House of Laughter 69 (heh heh)

The sad news first. My Granny died this morning. She fought for a long time, but her time on earth is finished. Isaac and I will drive down to Florida on Tuesday for the funeral. The visitation will be on Wednesday night, and the funeral will be Thursday night in Orlando FL. She was ready to go see Papa and Jesus, and we had all said our goodbyes. This is my fourth grandparent or aunt to die in three years.

Isaac is getting smarter and smarter. When we left the house Thursday morning, Isaac looked at the puddles on the ground and said “It rained last night on Daddy’s big red truck.” He and I even have a little comedy bit we stole from “Here Come the ABCs”.

I say “Everybody has to learn the ABC’s…..except me”

He replies “Nooooooo! Even You!”

I then resign, “O.K.”

This is hysterical to him and has to be repeated 20-30 times.

I took Friday off work (for my birthday). Between the stress of our house being on the market and Granny dying, I had a rough week. Thursday afternoon was a very light schedule, so I took off a little early. I picked up Isaac and we went to see the tigers at the science center. We spent most of our time watching them build a habitat for maned wolves. He was particularly fascinated with one machine that moved heavy rocks into a ditch. We watched that machine move rocks for almost 20 minutes.

Friday, Isaac and I stayed in our pajamas all day. We watched Popeye cartoons, Simpsons, and Finding Nemo, while we played with blocks. We sat outside, grilled hot dogs, watched airplanes, and played with leaves. It was a pretty great day.

Saturday morning, we went to Carowinds. Nancy joined us at the last minute. We rode the log flume, the cars, Scooby’s Haunted House, and Dora’s “Train to the Land of Freedom”. Since he is now 36 inches tall, he could also ride the swing ride, the “Taxi-jam” roller coaster (It is themed to film “Taxi Driver”. You pass animatronic pimps and pushers), and Kaleidoscope (an old fairground type ‘Spin and Puke’ ride.) They had special Halloween events including a pumpkin patch and Trick or Treat. Isaac really liked coloring his pumpkin and we have it proudly on display.

We bought him a souvenir that I had seen earlier this year. A Carolina blue shirt with the Starfleet insignia that says “Future Starfleet Officer”. Poor kid will never be cool.



Strength and Honor,
Big Matt