Valiant Charger

The Other Worst Week Ever

So, this is the last post with the subliminal message, has anyone picked it yet or even noticed? Please comment.

So, last week was the dreaded week of my father’s funeral, worst day ever. First piece of advice, someone offers you tissues. TAKE THEM!!!

Even though I had a friend, who saw my support person handing me a tissue every other minute, it wasn’t enough.

All the talks-talks, song, light candle stuff for which you think takes forever, it’s over before you know it and I was almost left behind. I did the walk out metres behind his coffin and tried badly to not rush, while desperate not to do the ugly cry. You know the cry where you at least want to bury your face in a hand, so no one witnesses it. You know I use a walking stick in my one good hand right? Yeah, not helpful.

The Funeral Home director asked if I could walk over to the cemetery or if I would need to go over in a car. Wisely, I said yes, car please. He had not been offering me a lift but if I had not been helped into the front passenger seat of the hearse, I would have been left behind. Lovely driver Phil made small talk to take my mind off things. I tried to sell him Dad’s car. But alas, dad no longer has the Valiant Charger in Vitamin C orange. So, that was a fail.

With all the love and respect in the world, if I ever hear the song by Bette Midler, The Rose it will be TOO FUCKING SOON! Jesus Wept!

Second piece of advice, when trying not to do ugly cry, try breathing in and out of your mouth. Not saying it worked, but it felt like it helped. Lastly, my family gave me the awards Best Worst Ugly Cry and Best Worst Timed Ugly Nose Blow. Charming, no.

The night of the funeral we had a pool party with our cousins around catching up and playing pool. I have cousins I’ve not seen for 30 years. And the most common memory was dad teaching everyone how to hammer in nails into a small off cut of pine. One cousin who has become a builder wants dads hammer, but I have already laid claim to it. What! I think we made dad proud that night.

His house felt like a home because it previously felt like someone had been merely existing there. We will be there for this upcoming Christmas, so I imagine dad watching over us as he promised. I might convince a carer one day to hold a nail for me while with half the necessary eyesight I smack in the nail in the triple tap technique my dad used. I’ll explain that better another time.

On Sunday, two days later I received the award of 1st Caligiuri Daughter to surface and be reasonably functionable. The household likes to start the day with coffee. I made the statement I prefer to start the day with my own natural energy and you should all be aware I’m NOT A MORNING PERSON. I need to end the day with my Medicine (coffee) so I can get through the rest of the day.

I guess all the family dysfunction we put off dealing with for one day in the future comes to the foreground when the passing of a loved one happens. Now we have to deal with all of that too. While grieving.

A friend shared a perfect statement with me today “The Price of Love is Grief”

I know this is not a happy post, but I’ll try better next week when I reveal the reason for the subliminal messages.

Motion Sickness

I never understood why, but I was always plagued by motion sickness as a kid. Family road trips always started with me in the seat behind the driver with my head turned towards the side window (on the right) and my knees turned towards the centre of the vehicle. Did not allow for much room when the family car, growing up was a Valiant Charger.

Valiant Charger

Car trips usually ended with my mum in my seat and me in the front passenger seat!

These days any family car ride it becomes automatic that I ‘bags’ the front seat. While it’s been a long time since I’ve been ill in a car. With the exception of having a migraine once while back in the country for a brief visit and a trip in mum’s ‘Racing car” to the closest staffed emergency room, that day I needed a bucket, but that was extreme circumstances.

Front seat

Over the last few years, living where I now live mum an I have had many an adventure to the Swedish warehouse to get ‘storage solutions’, to the point we not only avoid the showroom, but we even drive up the exit (a spiral design) and park next to the pick-up area to go straight into the warehouse where we make a snatch and grab before getting the hell outta there.

Swedish Warehouse

One painful day, I was feeling more than a bit ‘seedy’. Lack of sleep, too busy, too stressed, migraine, whatever it was. Mum told me as we arrived at the spiral exit to get ready.

Reaching across my body, I held on to the handle above the door on the roof. I swear my mum was a rally car driver in a previous life.

Sitting in the front

Of course, I told her to take it easy. To which she chose to mention the sick bag in the pocket in the door beside me INSIDE A SNAPLOCK BAG!

Sick bag

I suggested if I was going to be sick I would not have time to deal with a snaplock bag one handed. I cannot tell you how quickly I was made to give her that bag so she could get it out.

Even at the time and no matter how many times I share that story it gets a laugh.

Sometimes, you just have to laugh…

Laughing