Diane and I were up to see the sunrise., which was a great way to begin vacation. today was our first full day at the beach and a great day to settle in and explore.   

 

Diane lost no time in starting to cook. Our house had some great retro appliances.

 

Eventually everyone started waking up.. and we crossed over the road to check out some of Billy and Shawn’s land. It goes from the road all the way to Galveston bay. It’s swampy and full of snakes.. but it has some amazing animals.. crabs. alligators and beautiful birds like roseate spoonbills and great blue herons

it’s particularly cool to see an alligator this big.. it’s probably 6 feet. 

there were signs of snakes too !

THe rest of the day we ate, drank, sat around talking, cooked up the crabs we’d caught, walked on the beach… and waited for max , gabe and Sammantha who were coming in late at night. We all went to dinner at a place called Nates up the road a bit.. and took food back for max, gabe and Sam .. they got in just after 10 PM..   We got them settled then headed out to do some fireworks on the beach !  Diane started her PiCakin.. two pies and cake stacked together and iced as one.. It’s gonna be so yummy !

 

nice to be all together.. missing Becky who couldnt come and as always  .our Sam and Dad whos spirits are with us. 

nite all , nite sam

-me

Today was the day we mark Sam’s organ donation. I just made a separate post on that because its too important to mix in with the events of a day.

Though we mark all three days of Sam’s passing. This year we had decided to use that day as a travel day to start our Thanksgiving trip to meet  family in Houston.  We left home at 4AM to meet our 6am flight . By 1PM we were in Houston… where I grew up.. it’s a huge  and gritty city.. but it’s still home. 

We picked up our car and headed through the concrete jungle  to billy and shaun’s 

Though we all get together a couple of times a year, this is the first time that DIane and I have been to see billy and shaun in Houston in several years.. before covid at least.  It was so good seeing all the Texacohns and  their super cute sheep dog Andy !

 

We were so excited to see Billy’s skeletons that he made for Halloween. They are 11 (I think) full-size plastic skeletons that spin around on a speed control motor (which I helped on)… Illuminated by strobe. The whole effect is so amazing as you watch the skeletons brachiate around the wheel. The pictures don’t do it justice. It’s really a work of art

 

It was so great to see the skeletons all assembled after spending so much time working with it remotely.. It’s one of the coolest things I think Billy has ever built !

After skeleton time, we all jumped in our various cars and drove to Galveston . Billy drove his Maclaren which had been decorated as a HotWheels for a HotWheels publicity stunt.. very cute.

My sister and her family and my mom met us there at a place called the Spot. A great place to start our vacation. 

 

So far we have Grandma, Billy, Shaun, Berto, Ben, Bens dog Oliver, Chris, Billy Jr, Billy’s dog Andy , Mary. John. Ellery. Jake. Theo, Diane,  and me, Great start to our vacation !

nite all, noite sam

-me

Today is the day we mark Sam’s organ donation. It was the hardest and easiest decision we ever had to make. When we knew that Sam’s body wouldn’t survive, we new we wanted Sam’s strong organs to help others live. We knew that Sam would wanted it too.

Sam’s organs helped 4 people live.

This day 16 years ago, We learned about the amazing process of organ donation. It showed us how one family’s tragedy could be other family’s miracle.

We also learned that one of the most important enablers of organ donation  was the consent of the family. And one of the most important part of that is knowing what the donor would want.  

Please honor Sam’s memory by talking to your family  about organ donation .. 

Nite all, nite Sam

-me

Today was Sam’s Yahrzeit.. the day we mark that he died. We spent the day with him as the transplant team went. to work finding out how Sam’s strong organs could help others live. Diane and I slept in the hospital room.. what little we slept… and talked to Sam. It was clear to us that he was there.. but not in his body.

16 years later I still cant believe that day. It was an unreal time. 

I have spoken to Sam in that same way every day in the past 16 years .  Today I spoke to him from one of his favorite places, Bolton.  Diane and I took a long hike up  to Butler’s lodge then cut over Heavenly Highway and the  to Wilderness lift and down the mountain. It was freezing cold with high wind.. the weather Sam loved. 

 

As is my custom, I lit a candle for Sam and let it burn all day..  I used one of the Lanterns  that the Haunted Forest folks made for us in Sam’s memory.. I walked around the house looking at pictures of Sam. What a beautiful kid.

 

We love you so much Sam. We always will !

nite all, nite Sam

-me