Well, it’s the very end of Friday, February 1st. At this time last night Henry was eating Cindy’s Chicken Velvet Soup, created a few weeks ago and left in the freezer. Then, he slept through the rest of the night, to face The Order of the Day, which revolves around The Bath.
The Hospice lady, April the Aide, usually appears around 11 am, and cheerfully announces she is about to scrub him down. At first I did not think this is necessary on a daily basis, especially when he protests so, but now I realize The Bath is the only exercise he gets, being rolled from side to side, and moving his legs and arms. So now – we are merciless as I help April.
She says, “Mr. Cook, this is April to help you,” and he replies, “April, May and June.” She looked at me, looked at him, and said, “Mr. Cook, DO you know who I am?” He relied, “Of course, you are my tormentor.” She laughed –he would say, wickedly – and got to it. He does sleep well for a couple of hours after April is through with him. We have to laugh, or sink into despair about this.
Today was a difficult Goodbye, as Terry and Karen Smith (friends since we were in the Lamaze class in Ras Tanura with their Karis and our Anne on the way, the girls were in the Nursery Group, and Terry was one of the original U-Drives, that infamous softball team in RT) had to leave today to their waiting family in Corpus Christi. Karen and I shared opposite ends of the same towel, as Kleenex would not suffice. Watching them drive away was a blurry-eyed experience. Henry was very restless later in the day -I wonder if he realized the Smith’s were gone - he was so agitated that we finally gave him a dose of Lorazepam, which really put him out for awhile, and we all took a nap. He hasn’t eaten much today, except his usual onions and eggs at breakfast. I have to admit we finally did meet with the people at the funeral home – the Hospice people insist we have to face life here – that is, face the process of the loved one living until the end – and use this time to prepare. It has helped, in a way.
We’ve been to the funeral home on three different days, and now I am the one who has to read the fine print – Henry always took care of the details, I just play the piano and make cinnamon rolls. I found in the contract a 500$ fee for a website! Just like this! Can you imagine? But, it was part of “the package”. Allison asked, can’t we go a la carte? Guess what, with several days to discuss this, we can. Henry has always insisted there will be no money spent at his end, (he would call that a flagrant misuse of company funds – how many times have I heard that term in relation to contracts in drilling?) absolutely no funeral, no fuss. Fine. We will call it a Celebration of his Life, and throw one Big Dinner, to which you all are invited it you can possibly come – date to be announced sometime in the future.
Tonight I read again through the entries on this site – saying thank you cannot convey the deep sentiment here. Don’t want to get too slushy, which is quite easy right now, but, truly, you have all been vital to the fabric of our lives. And, I realize more and more, that our family took this dear man for granted. Many co-workers have mentioned how Henry took care of his people. Well, that was personified a million times as he took absolute care of us; we loved it and rolled in it, and never said thank you enough. However, we do thank all of YOU – Bonnie and the Cook Family