May 2014. In May Gayle's Dad got very ill and ended up in hospice, so we left the park and drove to Ohio to see him. On the way Bill called us to say they did not know if Dad would still be alive by the time we got there so had us talk to him, which they also had Josh and Jacklyn do as well. We got there on a Saturday night and drove with Pat, Bill & Cindy to the hospice where Dad was. Mike, Diane & Kimberly came as well. I held his hand for hours and just sat and talked to him. He was almost comatose; his eyes did not blink and his body was on shut down (no food or drink). The nurse did say that even though he could not answer or talk, he was able to hear us and knew we were all there. We all prayed and talked. We stayed for about 4 hours and by the time we got back to Dad's house, the nurse had called to let us know that Dad has passed. It took us 5 days to drive from Texas to Ohio, but he waited until we got there, maybe because Bill kept telling him that I was coming. A few days later was the viewing, which both Josh & Jacklyn flew up for. Dad was cremated and laid to rest beside my Mom at All Saint's Cemetery in Northfield, Ohio. It was a very nice service as the Marines came and did a 21 gun salute to him.
We were going to stay and help go through Dad's house to get rid of all the paperwork that had been stacking up, and also his clothes. After spending a few days filling garbage bags of old paperwork that had been laying around the house, we talked to Mike about it; and he ended up coming to the house and picking up all the bags to take them back to his house to check on what we were throwing away. No trust; and that really got me angry and we ended up leaving and letting Mike (and Diane) have their way with the stuff in Dad's house.
While in Ohio we visited Brady Lake where Jim had a house while in college. We also searched for the "Ledge" where the famous picture was taken of the Kent Group, which we found and Jim was able to make his way up onto the ledge almost to the same spot he was sitting in the original picture. We also made a trip to the May 4 Memorial Museum at Kent State. We also visited a fantastic museum called the Warther Museum. Mr. Warther was a master carver and would carve chains out of a stick of wood as he walked in the woods. He also chronicled the history of the locomotive through carvings.
We had also been getting almost daily texts from Kathleen back at Yogi Bear asking when we were coming back, and so that is what we ended up doing. Jim kept asking me if I wanted to go back to Yogi Bear, and I said Yes.
So, we ended up back at Yogi Bear Jellystone as official Activity Directors. This is when our summer really got busy and hectic. We were very busy there, through Halloween and Christmas. We were supposed to leave after Halloween, but were asked to stay through the end of the year, which we did. That ended up going into 2015 and we were still working there into 2015.
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We were going to stay and help go through Dad's house to get rid of all the paperwork that had been stacking up, and also his clothes. After spending a few days filling garbage bags of old paperwork that had been laying around the house, we talked to Mike about it; and he ended up coming to the house and picking up all the bags to take them back to his house to check on what we were throwing away. No trust; and that really got me angry and we ended up leaving and letting Mike (and Diane) have their way with the stuff in Dad's house.
While in Ohio we visited Brady Lake where Jim had a house while in college. We also searched for the "Ledge" where the famous picture was taken of the Kent Group, which we found and Jim was able to make his way up onto the ledge almost to the same spot he was sitting in the original picture. We also made a trip to the May 4 Memorial Museum at Kent State. We also visited a fantastic museum called the Warther Museum. Mr. Warther was a master carver and would carve chains out of a stick of wood as he walked in the woods. He also chronicled the history of the locomotive through carvings.
We had also been getting almost daily texts from Kathleen back at Yogi Bear asking when we were coming back, and so that is what we ended up doing. Jim kept asking me if I wanted to go back to Yogi Bear, and I said Yes.
So, we ended up back at Yogi Bear Jellystone as official Activity Directors. This is when our summer really got busy and hectic. We were very busy there, through Halloween and Christmas. We were supposed to leave after Halloween, but were asked to stay through the end of the year, which we did. That ended up going into 2015 and we were still working there into 2015.
Back to Daily Journal 2014