Life Lately

Casen has been battling with a right arm injury since his first prep team baseball game in February. We are not specifically certain what he did to his arm, however he had pitched an inning during a practice scrimmage and then pitched during the first prep game. After the prep game he could hardly raise his arm, much less carry Nina up the stairs to bed. He iced the bicep area, rested it, and it just didn't seem to be improving much. We decided to see a doctor at Airrosti who performed a deep tissue massage and gave him different exercises to do. After a week, we followed back up with her where she again did another deep tissue massage and reassessed him. She noted some improvement, gave him some additional exercises to do and discussed a throwing plan with him.

While he has not been able to pitch or throw, he has been able to hit during games. This past weekend due to his great hitting during the game, Casen received Player of the Game!

Casen and the boys chamber tenor bass choir recently performed at a UIL competition where they received ones. He has enjoyed being in the chamber choir and making friends with some of the 8th grade boys. As you can tell from the picture, they have a great time! 

Casen is the head peaking out in the very back.

Tonight, Camden and his friend Seth, paired up and won the church high school youth group pickle ball tournament. There are some extremely competitive 11th grade boys, (one of which is Seth's older brother) so the fact that two 9th graders beat them, was icing on the cake. 

The Loss of an Uncle

My uncle Harold, better known as Stinker, passed away early this morning. Honestly, he lived longer than anyone ever thought he would. A few weeks ago we visited him in Kerrville during spring break and I knew his time on this earth was drawing to a close. He was quiet, restless, and not himself. Since that visit, I had not talked to him because he wasn't answering his phone, but was keeping up with his deterioration between my mom's visits and hospice's reports. Yesterday I spoke with the hospice nurse and she informed me that he probably would not make it to the end of the week, which proved to be correct. 

Stinker lived in a nursing home in Kerrville for quite a few years and battled an array of medical issues, some of which were due to his exposure to agent orange while serving in Vietnam. He was the black sheep of the family, and proudly wore that title. :) He would refer to me as his protege to anyone he introduced me to. I often wondered if he knew exactly what that word meant . . . LOL. He was a stubborn soul and would butt heads with anyone, including me, who would try to set him straight on things. As a matter of fact, as his medical power of attorney, one day I was called into a meeting with he and the administrators of the nursing home because he had acted inappropriately yelling at some of the employees. We were told that f he did not get himself right, they were going to have to consider moving him to another facility. Luckily he straightened himself out and, while he still didn't like certain individuals there, he learned to share his thoughts with only certain people.

While living at the nursing home, there was one individual who served as a constant in his life, Crystal. She is a med aide and has been there since day one. Stinker became family to her and she treated him as such. She would take him places, feed him, and give him back any grief he dished out to her. She watched after him all these years and while Stinker talked about her all the time, it wasn't until this year that I actually was able to meet her face to face. 

Yesterday I reached out to Crystal to chat with her about Stinker since hospice told me he most likely would not make it to the end of the week. My parents are out of town, and I was trying to decide if  I should go there and be with him because I didn't want him to be alone as he passed from this earth. He and I have had many conversations regarding his impending death and I knew he had been struggling with what life after death looked like and if he had a place in Heaven. She and I talked for awhile as she was driving home from work. She informed me that she was headed back to the nursing home to stay with him for the night and would call me so I could talk to him. She did just that, and while he could not respond, I did talk to him and she and I shared stories. We laughed A LOT whiles sharing stories of his many antics and she sent me pictures from the different Halloweens where she dressed him up. 

Stinker should have been the 
one in stripes.

Purple glitter unicorn!

This morning at 2:05am, Crystal called to let me know that Stinker had passed. She called me later this afternoon and, bless her heart, she was struggling. For years, Stinker has been the welcoming committee at the nursing home, greeting every worker and family member who came through the doors. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him. She said it was going to be so weird to walk up and not see him there to greet her. 

In many phone conversations, Stinker would tell me that the 'meat wagon' had showed up to take someone else away. He knew the drill, and knew that since he was a veteran, he would leave the facility with the American flag, draped over his body, with the stars at his head and the stripes at his feet. He was very adamant that I receive that flag and keep it. Crystal was kind enough to take and send a picture of Stinker as he departed the facility.

Stinker will be cremated and buried next to his parents in Rolla, Missouri. Per his request, he will have the headstone provided by the government for those who have served in the military. While Stinker would never discuss that time in his life, I know that his time in Vietnam had a lasting effect on who he was. Despite sometimes driving me crazy, I will miss him and our phone conversations.

 

From 2013 when he lived in 
Port Arthur

2017 in Kerrville

Where you could always
find him - outside!

Our last picture together in November, 2024

Flash that Beautiful Smile

Ever since he got his braces on in July of 2023, Camden has been looking forward to getting them off. Due to the snow storm we had a few months ago happening on a day he was supposed to have his appointment, he had to wait a little longer than anticipated. But, today was the day he finally got them off and was able to flash his beautiful smile. 

Last pic with braces

Instead of getting impressions for
a retainer, they now just take 3-D 
pictures and he will get his
retainer.

The removal

Picture time

My handsome boy!!

Camden is out of braces and Casen is almost ready to start them. At his dentist appointment in December, the dentist told Casen that he had two more teeth to lose and if he didn't do it by his next appointment in May, he would have to pull them. Fortunately, while we were in Kerrville this past weekend, he lost a loose tooth when it came out with a sneeze. LOL. Only Casen  . . . 

Final HS Soccer Games of the Season

We have spent the last weeks going to soccer games every Tuesday and Friday. After his knee dislocation, watching the games had been more stressful than ever. Any collision he has, which is often, has made me gasp and hold by breath. Fortunately, it got a little better as the season progressed. As much as he was not a fan of wearing his brace all season, his knee did behave itself. His team lost more games than they have won, but despite that, it has been fun watching him play for his school. 

Camden's buddy, Seth, has been taking pictures of the soccer players for money (smart side gig for him). Camden and Seth are church buddies and in YMSL together. Since Camden has helped Seth with geometry, he shared some pictures with Camden that he had taken. Camden says they are fire! :)

Melissa and Shawn were able to come to cheer him on at one of his games in Klein.

Final game of the season.

Happy 5th Birthday Nina

Our sweet baby girl turned 5 yesterday. She had a hair appointment on Thursday so that she would be beautiful for her big day. We have absolutely enjoyed every single day she has been in our family!!

Today, while Casen and I were in Waller for baseball, we headed to Buc-ee's between games for some lunch. While there, we ran into Reveille, the First Lady of Aggieland. While Casen in not a fan of A&M (most likely because his brother his) we decided we MUST take a picture and send it to Camden. 

Reveille's handler that day was Tony (according to what I could find on her Instagram page) as well as another student and they both were so very kind. Not only did they take one picture, they took several  to ensure we were all looking at the camera. Reveille was so very sweet!!!