Monday, March 29, 2010

Off to his happy place

We are waiting at Emanual hospital for Petie to finish with his dental work in the operating room.  Planning on 4 crowns and 8 sealants.  He did really well this morning with the routine of getting on the hospital jammies, having his temperature taken, and getting the happy medicine to make it all a distant memory.  I knew the Verced had kicked in when he let a very large male nurse (Kev said think Sloth from Goonies, no lie) pretend to tickle him and joke with him.  Petie with no reservations was a pretty funny sight.  He let the dentist and anesthesiologist take him away without a care in the world.  Now where is the Verced for the parents?



Surveying the damage:


Chillin with Dad:


Update:  We made it through the day.  Petie ended up with 4 crowns and 4 fillings.  He did just fine with most of the day.  The car ride home was a little rough.  He kept screaming "I want to go back to the hospital" over and over.  What?  Anyway, we are now finally home and he is fast asleep on Dad's chest.  Now to begin the serious dental program of flossing and "serious" brushing!  We vow not to return to the OR for dental work!

Monday, March 8, 2010

In Memory of Great-Grandpa Wellnitz

Kevin's grandpa, Dave Sr., passed away on February 23rd, 2010.  We went up to Seattle last week for the services.  Rosary, funeral with full mass, and burial.  You know how the Catholics roll; lots of prayers, lots of tradition, lots of food and drink.  It was strange having this funeral just 2 short months after Kevin's cousin Charley's death and service.  The mood was very different.  People were sad, but not shocked and heartbroken sad.  There's a big difference.  We honored a long life full of accomplishment and family.  "The Kennedy's of Wedgwood" the priest called the Wellnitz family of Seattle.  Pretty impressive legacy.  So many traits of his that were mentioned in the eulogy I can see and appreciate in Dave, Jr. and in Kevin.  Good with numbers. Slightly anal, okay, maybe really anal.  Family as the most important thing.  An honest, trustworthy man.  And of course there is the physical resemblance:



Link to the obit here.

And it was great to see the Seattle family and stay with Pat and Veronica and Finoosh (Finn) again.  We had probably one of the best sandwiches of my life here on Tuesday night.  And I don't make that comment lightly.  Sandwiches are serious business.  Thanks to Pat and Nika for the hospitality as usual.  When are you coming to Portland by the way?

Oh, and we had a few interesting conversations with Petie around the subject of death and funerals.  He asked very loudly at the burial, "where's the box?"  And when it was over I asked him to please not dance around on the headstones because that's where people are buried and he asked, "is this heaven?"  He also saw Kevin's uncle Doran (who has salt and pepper hair and uses a cane due to his MS) and said, "Poppa's Dad isn't dead Daddy, he's right there."  Oh, wow.  There were more that I can't even remember.  He doesn't miss a thing.