UB5 Christmas 2013

[LA Ute]

Post here your memories and experiences this Christmas.

We are having an unusual Christmas Eve. My father in-law, age 81, suffered an intestinal blockage that led to surgery Saturday and a touch-and-go recovery. We almost lost him but he seems to be on the road back now. Meanwhile, my wife had primary responsibility for our ward's neighborhood Christmas concert -- our first ever such effort -- as well as the ward Christmas choir program. It was an action- and worry-packed weekend.


We had tentatively planned on driving up to Utah Sunday to be there for my MIL, who was dealing with my FIL's emergency hospitalization and rocky recovery. After church Sunday she convinced us to stay home, enjoy Christmas in L.A., and drive to Utah the day after Christmas as planned.


Yesterday, at the end of a fun day of family shopping at The Grove, we had a call from my sister in-law. My outwardly completely healthy, very spry mother in-law had a stroke while at the VA hospital visiting my FIL. They whisked her off to University Hospital where she was then unconscious and on a respirator. That began a dash home to gather a few things and then a mad dash to LAX for my wife and daughter, who were able to make the last flight out only because it left 40 minutes late. (Those who know L.A. can imagine getting to LAX for a 7:00 flight during rush hour two days before Christmas.)


My sons and I then packed up 90% of the presents under the tree -- a feat of which we are proud, as it took every inch of non-passenger space in the SUV -- and headed out. We made it to St. George by 2:30 a.m., crashed for 5-6 hours, and now are on the last leg to SLC.


Sadly, it turns out that the stroke was massive and Grandma will not recover. Her clear wishes were that we not consent to heroic measures, so the children are gathering to say good-bye, which will happen this afternoon barring a miracle.


Life throws us curveballs, doesn't it? Who expects things like this to happen to otherwise vibrant, healthy people on Christmas Eve? Although this story is sad, it is not depressing. My wife and her six brothers and sisters are rallying around their father and one another as they face the trial of saying good-bye tho their mother, who has been the lynchpin of the family and is dearly loved by all her kids and grandkids. In an important way it's OK that this is happening on Christmas. For believers that's a time, above all other times, of hope and the promise of resurrection, of reuniting with loved ones, and of eternal families.


Merry Christmas, UB5 buddies folks. And give your loved ones a hug -- today and every day. Tell them how much they mean to you. Life can be so fragile sometimes.

[Scorcho]

wow, quite a story, best of luck to you and your family. I hope your FIL recovers quickly.

[Applejack]

My condolences to you and your family, LA.

[USS Utah]

995

Merry Christmas!

[Diehard Ute]

Sorry to hear that LA.

For the first time since I joined my current profession I happen to have both Christmas Eve and Christmas off, as they happened to fall on my regular weekend.

I've always worked my scheduled shift so those with kids could take the day off to spend with family.

I'm looking forward to my first Christmas not working in 6 years. It will be a mostly quiet one, I've lost all but one grandparent and have also lost 2 aunts and an uncle. Our family has become small, especially I'm Utah, with just one uncle, my parents and one grandmother here.

Merry Christmas to all

[LA Ute]

Sorry to hear that LA.

For the first time since I joined my current profession I happen to have both Christmas Eve and Christmas off, as they happened to fall on my regular weekend.

I've always worked my scheduled shift so those with kids could take the day off to spend with family.

I'm looking forward to my first Christmas not working in 6 years. It will be a mostly quiet one, I've lost all but one grandparent and have also lost 2 aunts and an uncle. Our family has become small, especially I'm Utah, with just one uncle, my parents and one grandmother here.

Merry Christmas to all

That's great, Diehard. Enjoy!

[Scratch]

Sorry to hear it, Lowell. Good luck and Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[Rocker Ute]

Sorry to hear that Lowell. Condolences to you and your family.

[SoCalPat]

I can relate somewhat, LA. I'm spending the holidays alone -- it's my turn to work Christmas, and New Year's Eve is an all-hands-on-deck affair where I work at.

Knowing that would be my schedule, my wife and children went to Oklahoma to visit her family. My mother-in-law's situation is not nearly as sudden as what you experienced. She's clearly on her last legs, is under hospice care and my wife finds it very difficult in dealing with what she knows is her mother's last days (her older sister and younger brother are also there, and my FIL is in largely good shape, so this is far from a solo effort). Frankly, I would not be surprised if she dies before my family flies back to SLC on Jan. 2. Then again, she might live until June. That's the kind of spirit my MIL has.

But everytime the my phone rings and it's my wife calling, I'm prepared to hear the worst. Not quite the anticipation one faces on Christmas Eve, but so be it. She's 73, has had an active life and probably could have lived longer had she taken better care of herself (she smokes/d), but her time is close at hand.

The two weeks of bachelorhood has been largely glorious -- when you have three kids, you'll take the break any time you can get it, no questions asked. At the same time, going into this, I knew Christmas Eve and Day would kinda suck. So I'm throwing myself into a lot of chores around the house today and tomorrow before I head to work. I've got Pandora going on my TV and blasting out 80s classic rock songs. It's a festive mood for me, but I know that can change at any minute.

[LA Ute]

I can relate somewhat, LA. I'm spending the holidays alone -- it's my turn to work Christmas, and New Year's Eve is an all-hands-on-deck affair where I work at.

Knowing that would be my schedule, my wife and children went to Oklahoma to visit her family. My mother-in-law's situation is not nearly as sudden as what you experienced. She's clearly on her last legs, is under hospice care and my wife finds it very difficult in dealing with what she knows is her mother's last days (her older sister and younger brother are also there, and my FIL is in largely good shape, so this is far from a solo effort). Frankly, I would not be surprised if she dies before my family flies back to SLC on Jan. 2. Then again, she might live until June. That's the kind of spirit my MIL has.

But everytime the my phone rings and it's my wife calling, I'm prepared to hear the worst. Not quite the anticipation one faces on Christmas Eve, but so be it. She's 73, has had an active life and probably could have lived longer had she taken better care of herself (she smokes/d), but her time is close at hand.

The two weeks of bachelorhood has been largely glorious -- when you have three kids, you'll take the break any time you can get it, no questions asked. At the same time, going into this, I knew Christmas Eve and Day would kinda suck. So I'm throwing myself into a lot of chores around the house today and tomorrow before I head to work. I've got Pandora going on my TV and blasting out 80s classic rock songs. It's a festive mood for me, but I know that can change at any minute.

Hang in, SCP. Sending Christmas thoughts your way.

[USS Utah]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfZ6RD8Vehc

[Homer Crimson]

Condolences guys- we've all been there or will be soon; Merry Christmas and peace to all.

[wuapinmon]

We're doing the 12 days of Christmas this year. To avoid that icky feeling after opening gifts on Christmas morning, the kids each have 12 gifts with dates from 12-25 through 1-6 on them. Each day, they get to open one. We told them we were going to do it last year, and they were so upset and crying that we told them we'd do it this year, so they've had an entire year to prepare themselves for this. It'll be fun to see how they react on those days that have socks, underwear, and notebooks instead of the cool stuff they dream of.

Paz y buena voluntad to all.

[LA Ute]

My kids' Grandma passed peacefully last night. It really was a sweet experience, despite the sadness. Christmas Eve was her favorite day of the year and there she was, surrounded by every one of her children and those of her grandchildren old enough to understand. Her five sons gave her a blessing just before life support was removed. She had always worried about how she would die, not wanting to linger or be a burden. (That's just who she was.) it turned out she had the kind of death many of us would envy: A bad headache for about an hour, followed by complete unconsciousness. The cerebral hemorrhage and the damage it caused was so massive that she couldn't even breathe on her own so she went quickly once the support ended.

It all happened so quickly that we all have to remind ourselves she is really gone. But the family is a close one and we are all grateful for the reminder of what Christmas means to us.

On to a very special Christmas Day. Everyone is so exhausted that the younger kids haven't even gotten up yet but it'll be a big family day.

[Jarid in Cedar]

My condolences to you and your family LAU. Death around a holiday can be a tough thing as there is always that reminder each year.

[Brian]

Condolences to your family LAU. Thoughts your way.

[Brian]

A Christmas regret.
On Monday, the 23rd, I had to run into the vet to get some cat food. While I was waiting for the front desk person to go and rummage around in the backroom for it, an old, very scraggly lady came in. She had very messy white, curly hair, but very deep blue eyes. I was watching her from the corner of my eye as I waited. She was very quiet. As the lady brought out my cat food and rung me up, I watched as the old lady's eyes sunk in deeper, get red, and start to tear up a little as the vet staff handed her an empty pet carrier. As I signed the credit card slip, I watched as she fought back the tears. We walked out of the vet at about the same time, I held the door for her, and she walked in front of me.
I felt like I should put my hand on her shoulder and tell her "I'm so very sorry. I've lost a dear pet as well"
But I didn't. I'm extremely shy by nature, and it got the better of me.
As I pulled out, I saw her sitting in her beat up old white Toyota, head in her hands as she cried.

I pulled out with a resolve to not let my shyness win next time.

[cald22well]

My condolences for all those that suffered through heartache this holiday season. In the spirit of Christmas cheer though, I wanted to share a happy story.

This is my first Christmas as a father. I personally always hated Christmas coming from a split family because there was always too much drama involved and it just reminded me of how messed up my family was. On top of that, I was always forced to wake up way earlier than I wanted to and sit around and wait for everyone. I always believed that it was supposed to be the happiest day of the year, so I should at least get to sleep in. Simply put, I never looked forward to Chirstmas.

This year, I started dreading it as I tried to balance the situation with the in-laws. This was their first Christmas with their daughter not at home. The just assumed we would go spend the night over there and do Christmas with them. I stuck to my guns though and made it clear we would be doing Christmas morning presents and breakfast at our house and all that wanted to come were welcome.

Finally, as Christmas drew closer, I was overwhelmed with the Christmas spirit. I don't know how many times I randomly paid for the person behind me in a drive through line because I was overcome with the spirit of giving. Christmas morning, we had planned on doing presents at 7 (Which really meant 7:30 as I expected everyone to be late) and then breakfast. I was awake at 6:30 with so much energy that I couldn't sit still. I kept peeking out the window to see if anyone had arrived, peeking in the twins' room to see if they were awake. Finally, once everyone was there and we had waiting about 5 minutes, I broke my golden rule and went and woke up the boys. They're usually up by then anyways, so I justified it.

Even though my boys obviously don't know the concept of Christmas and didn't even seem all that interested in ripping off the wrapping paper, it was the best experience I could have hoped for. I love that I have good holiday cheer now and I can't wait until next year when they understand it a bit more. Merry Christmas, I hope that all had a great holiday and I wish you all the best moving forward.

[OrangeUte]

Ditto on the condolences. I'm sorry to hear that these things have happened but am impressed by the ability so many of us have to look on the bright side.