I have some catching up to do here…on all fronts. But I’ll start with the most significant, and most recent…

Our world has been rocked this week by the passing of Tyler’s brother, Nick, after a long endurance run with lymphoma.  His health started declining quickly after a most recent round of chemo challenged his already weak body.  We got “the call” over the weekend, Tyler flew out Monday, had hours of cherished time by his side with the rest of the immediate family (aside from me) and he passed early Tuesday morning.  As much as years of battling Lymphoma might lead you to think we would have had time to prepare for that moment, I assure you that it is still a shock, and still devastating.  We are all changed, and it’s a matter of time to realize how this experience will play out as we both look back with sorrow and love for Nick’s memory and look ahead for hope in an unexpected version of our future.

The day after Nick’s passing my Grandma Phyllis went to the ER and found she had had multiple heart attacks and a severely damaged heart.  It was a scary first couple of days but she has been slowly making progress, recuperating in the way true to her amazing 90 years of strong willed determination and love for (and from) her family.

Nick’s memorial was Saturday.  My regular backup childcare (my mom) was at the hospital with her mom.  Somehow by some alignment of stars and superhero help I was able to carry out a plan to leave the kids with my sister-in-law, fly to LA to visit Grandma for a few hours, and then fly to Denver in time for the Memorial.  It was a whirlwind of a weekend with much emotion, little sleep, and overwhelming gratefulness for my families and all the individuals that make family so special to me.  We laid Nick to rest, we celebrated his life, and we mourned together with both sadness and residual disbelief.

Nick’s men: they stood by his side at his wedding two months earlier and again here at his burial. He wished for them to wear these shirts. His is superman.

Thank you to all who have followed and cared for Nick throughout his journey as I have shared a bit on this blog.  Please continue to pray for our family as we grieve.

If you’re wondering about the kids…they had a blast at their Aunt/Uncle/Cousins.  I’m pretty sure they burned more calories and played the hardest (and slept the least) in their life in those 2 1/2 days.  Of course they were happy to see us at the end, but they were also begging to stay longer.

Friends, hug your loved ones extra tight and make sure they know what they mean to you.