My family used to open presents on Christmas Eve. So it really kinda feels like Christmas. We even decorated the pre-lit heirloom tree yesterday. Merry merry and happy happy (if you're a Hannukah person).
Unless someone can tell me how to get around the boundaries set in place for this 7th grade laptop I've been using since my laptop was stolen I will not be on facebook until after Christmas vacation.
And YAY it is Christmas vacation!
Thanks to lots of people for the prayer and support.
My dad died quickly, which is what he wanted. He wasn't suicidal, but did not want a long painful process.
This latest story starts a week ago with an incident at the liquor store. He passed out and would not let the medics take him to the hospital.
When my sister was unable to reach him on the phone last Tuesday she went to his house and found him on the kitchen floor. He again refused to go to the hospital. Finally she was able to get him to his living room couch. She went to buy him some strawberry ice cream and left him with a glass of water and his cigarettes in reach.
A friend of his went to his house on Wednesday, and called my sister when he was unable to get Dad to the door. They eventually called 911 and my dad was admitted to the hospital with internal bleeding from his esophagus, some sort of blood infection, a urinary tract infection, an e coli or a staph infection, and acute renal failure. At that time he was not responding to questions or statements. The ER gave him three units of blood and he started getting a little better.
I arrived in Gadsden in the very early morning hours of Thursday and went straight to the hospital. He was still in the ER and not coherent.
After several days of hanging out at the hospital my sister and I decided that I should go home to NOLA, work hard for a couple of days to get things ready to be gone from my classroom, and possibly drive back to Gadsden on Wednesday. I touched my Dad on the shoulder and said, "Dad, I'll be back in a couple of days" and drove south through Sunday.
That night his blood pressure dropped rapidly and his breathing slowed and faltered and finally stopped. My sister and her husband were with him.
I worked on Monday and drove back on Tuesday.
I am still figuring out how I feel and what I need to write. I am home in NOLA facing one more day of school before Christmas break and a grading frenzy that will last through the plane rides to Palm Springs, CA and extend into Sunday.
This is one of my favorite messages so far: "Just know that he accomplished great things while he was around! He gave us all a Mike Hardie! "
And one of my kids texted me today: "We miss u mr hardie! Hope u and ur family are doing ok!"
I used to teach in this school district and my school was housed in Douglass for a while. Student misbehavior...oh my.
05:40 PM CST on Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Tom Planchet / Eyewitness News
A rash of fires has been set at Recovery District schools over the past six days - six at Douglass High alone - worrying fire officials who believe the alleged pranks could become deadly.
The fire at Douglass High Tuesday afternoon ended the school day about two and a half hours early for students. The blaze started in a second-floor art classroom, which was empty at the time.
It was the sixth fire at Douglass, the other fires began in trash cans and in the boys and girls bathrooms. Tuesday's fire did the most damage, ruining nearly one-quarter of the art room.
Fire officials said that at the same time as the Douglass fire, two small fires broke out at Recovery District schools - one at Walter Cohen High and one at Thurgood Marshall Middle.
Captain Terry McHardy said he believes students have been starting the fires as a prank, but he says they are literally playing with fire.
"They might be doing it as a practical joke, but they don't understand how fast fire spreads. These are older buildings. If these fires go undetected for a period of time, they can endanger all of the students at the school."
I have cracked the internet codes and craziness here at the hospital. I'm in Gadsden, Alabama with my dad. He was brought in Wednesday night and it looked grim enough for my sister to call and say, You should come. I drove through the night, got here at 3:15, stayed at the hospital for a while and went to my sister's to sleep.
While we were here yesterday (Thursday) he was pretty incoherent and not doing too well. We are slowly figuring out what is currently wrong. Of course, there are things that have been wrong for years, including just general not-taking-care-of-himself. One of the reasons we're in this situation right now is that he pretty much refuses to go to the hospital before stuff gets out of control.
Some of this trip has been fun, especially seeing my sister and cousin. But the moments of laughter are very alternated by moments of non-fun and questioning and wondering what is going on.