:: George's Blog ::

:: Saturday, November 13, 2004 ::

Today would have been my dad's 77th birthday ... so, Happy Birthday, Pud!

Melissa was hired by Cendant in Parsippany and started her new job on Friday, November 12th.

:: George Jones 8:15 PM [+] ::
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Uncle Don died today at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine at 1:15 am. The hospital web site is: http://www.stmarysmaine.com/

Melissa and I joined Susan and Sarah Smith in travelling to Maine in Susan's company car, a 2004 Jeep Liberty. The Liberty may be a fine vehicle, but it should not be anyone's first choice for any trip exceeding 20 miles. It was uncomfortable and rode hard - it does not seem to be very far removed from the Jeep Wrangler in terms of sophistication.

Anyway, the trip took us about 3 hours since we didn't make a single stop. We found our way to the hospital despite the lack of signage - apparently, road signs are not much of a priority in the great state of Maine. There was a solitary hospital sign at the end of the exit - but that was it. Fortunately, Sue had been there the two weeks earlier so she had an idea of where to go.

Of course, just finding the hospital didn't mean we had actually found Don. We entered the hospital in search of the hospice, but were directed across the street to a large brick building that is actually a convalescent home. The front desk of the convalescent home had no record of Don so we were left to call Pauline for guidance. It took a good 15 minutes standing in the chilly outdoors before Pauline arrived to collect us.

Don was up on the 2nd floor and that is where we finally met Paul, Pauline's son. Paul is about as delightful a human being as you would ever find and I liked him immediately - we all did.

Seeing Don for the first time was a shock. His mouth was agog and he was unintelligible. He was lucid to be sure, but he couldn't articulate words. Clearly, he was in pain - and it was distressing to see this. Sue, Sarah, and Melissa all kissed Don's head before I took my turn. I leaned over and asked if he was tired of people kissing his head. He shook his head and said no as best he could. We eventually left him alone with Susan and joined Paul and Pauline for a trip to the cafeteria.

We stayed at the hospital until about 3-3:30 pm and left to return to Connecticut.
:: George Jones 5:08 PM [+] ::
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