KNOTTS BERRY FARM - FRIDAY 12/30/11
In th midst of all the sadness surrounding Dad's passing, and as our last outing of the year, the Padgetts and the Briones families went to Knott's Berry Farm. I had forgotten how much fun this place can be. Thanks to the "law enforcement appreciation days" we were able to enjoy the day for next to nothing!
In th midst of all the sadness surrounding Dad's passing, and as our last outing of the year, the Padgetts and the Briones families went to Knott's Berry Farm. I had forgotten how much fun this place can be. Thanks to the "law enforcement appreciation days" we were able to enjoy the day for next to nothing!
Snoopy On Ice! Even better than I remembered it when we saw it in the 80's!
Mikey's first amusement park trip!
He sure loves attention from his Daddy and his Uncles!
No matter how old you get you'll always be my "kids"!
I love you all!
We always have a lot of fun when we do things together!
Thank you God for the gift of family!
Okay Pops, it's on now...
Dennis has taken over as the Wack-A-Mole Champ!
We had a nice time today ~ taking a little break
between Dad's illness and passing away and
the funeral next week...
We tried to eat at this restaurant at
Knotts Berry Farm
but they were closed for a private Christmas party!
**************************************************************************
~ CHRISTMAS DAY ~
12/25/11
This was such a terribly terribly sad Christmas in the Walinski/Padgett families. I know we got together at Mimi's but I don't remember if we took any pictures.
I am so thankful that Nicole recorded Dad giving the blessing at Mimi's
just 2 years earlier, in December of 2009.
We all love you and miss you Dad!
GRANDPA'S CHRISTMAS PRAYER (2009)
At this sad time, when the world around us is
remembering and rejoicing in Your birth, oh Lord, we
Thank you for the gift of life and for our sweet grandson Mikey!
**************************************************************************
~GRANDPA'S LAST DAY ON EARTH~
12/23/11
On 12/23/11 Lorraine was at the hospital spending time with you when she called to say they were moving you back to the ICU because you had a staph infection. One of the last things I remember her telling me when I talked to her was that she had been singing "This Little Light of Mine" to you.
What a month this turned out to be. Very very hopeful that the Ommaya reservoir would have been "just what the doctor ordered" in delivering the chemotherapy drugs directly to those nasty brain tumors. The IV chemo was taking its toll on you. You had so many people praying for you but it just wasn't in God's plan for you to survive this.
We were all standing around your hospital bed late in the afternoon of 12/23/11. Tom read the Chaplet of Divine Mercy Prayer and we all stood there in disbelief that the Christmas miracle we had been praying so hard for was actually going to have a very very sad and different outcome. It was so hard to believe you took your last breath there in front of us. You had such a peaceful look come over your face, opened your hands, and stepped into the arms of the waiting Lord. I am screaming inside Daddy... I don't want you to go... life as I have known it for my first 56 and 11/12 years will NEVER be the same. I am beginning to know the terrible, horrible, devastating, awful pain that my poor Jerry has been living with all these years since the passing of his mom and dad.
What a joyous time of year to be welcomed into heaven, to sing with the heavenly choirs of angels in celebrating our Lord's birthday. I'm sure your Mom and your Grandpa and all of your other previously departed loved ones were excited at the thought that you were finally able to say "I'll be home for Christmas - you can plan on me..." I'm sure it was a reunion of grand and glorious proportions! I know it must have been HEAVENLY!
But poor Nicole... she is especially heartbroken to lose you at this time in her life. She was SO excited for you to become a great grandpa and wanted so badly for you to be able to get to know little Mikey and bounce him on your knee - just as you had done with her, Chris, and Dennis when they were little ones, and play "1 Little 2 Little 3 Little Indians" and "This Little Piggie" with him. Daddy, I know in my heart that you will find a heavenly way of staying close to him while he is growing up. And we will all make sure he sees plenty of pictures and hears all the great stories about you.
RIP DAD
11/22/30 ~ 12/23/11
May the choirs of angels come to greet you,
may they speed you to paradise!
**************************************************************************
DECEMBER 2011
Dear Daddy, we keep hoping that you will be home soon but this disease they call CNS lymphoma is a very cruel villain. There are so many people praying for you -- even people who have never had the good fortune of meeting you. You'd think with all of us storming heaven with our prayers that sooner or later our voices would be heard. But as always, our faith teaches us that no matter how hard we cry or stomp or scream -- or pray -- that ultimately we know that it's the Lord's will that will be done.
This has been a very difficult and frustrating last few months with you only being able to be out of the hospital for a little while here and a little while there. IV's and chemo drugs that we never thought we would have to know the names of have been becoming all too familiar. We just want our Daddy back and Mommy just wants you to come home. She misses you more than she ever thought possible and her heart aches every day for you. I don't want to think about life without you. The doctors have been trying everything in their power to rid your body of the cancer and get those nasty tumors to shrink and disappear. You were always such a survivor that we never even thought that your story would not have a happy ending!
You have had a constant vigil of family and friends at your bedside. Everyone wants to be wherever you are. Your old friend Jim Gergen and his wife Dorothy brought in a blue "healing blanket" for you to keep on your bed. Each time you have been transferred back and forth from the SNF to Kaiser your blanket has gone with you. They also brought in a radio so that you could listen to Christmas carols in your hospital room. We heard that you have been serenading the nursing staff with Christmas carols. Daddy, you are one in a million. No wonder God is having such a tug-o-war with us over keeping you here or taking you to heaven. He wants you "home" as badly as we do...
**************************************************************************
THANKSGIVING 2011
Oh my dear Daddy, knowing that you are in the hospital for Thanksgiving this year makes us all so very very sad. You are the one who puts the life into our family gatherings! We all thought you would be well enough to come home for Thanksgiving but it just wasn't to be. After we all took our turns spending time with you in the hospital we went to Lorraine's place in Moorpark. It just wasn't the same without you there. I am keeping everyone updated on your course and there are countless people praying for you. Oh that God would grant us the Thanksgiving miracle we're all praying for!
Mama Duck and her ducklings
Nicole & Mike with "GG" and her first great grandchild Mikey
Bookends -- Mom with me (her first-born) and
Carl (her seventh-born)
Grandma and Jenn P.
Mom with Mimi and Shannon
Mom with Mimi, Paul and Shannon
Mom with Mimi and Paul
Do you think these guys are proud uncles or what?
Me and Kathy
Kathy with Carl and Felix
6 of my 7 beautiful nieces ~
Hailey - Julia - Jenn P - Jenn F - Mary and Shannon
Dennis and Felix
(Yes sir, some day your feet really WILL touch the ground!)
Please Lord - We beg you to restore the health of your
kind and faithful servant.
kind and faithful servant.
He is such a HUGE part of our family and our lives
(especially Mom's life!) and
(especially Mom's life!) and
I don't even want to think about how things will be without him here!
But even in our urgent request we also pray for "Your will be done..."
*******************************************************************************
GRANDPA TURNS 81!
11-22-11
Last year's birthday bash what such a joy-filled, happy and fun occasion, filled with much laughter and love. Unfortunately this year Dad was forced to celebrate his 81st birthday in the chemo unit at Kaiser in Woodland Hills. Since Dad had been diagnosed with diabetes in the last year or so (what a dirty trick for someone with such a sweet tooth!) we brought in some sugar free goodies. Plenty of visitors signed his guest book and he enjoyed hearing Mary and Julia give their rendition of the greetings people left. Accents are definitely a talent you passed to the rest of us Dad! :)
It's such a dirty trick that they have you in that bed for your birthday!
We all love you SOOOO much!
Dad, Lorraine, Mimi, and Me
I'm sorry Dad that none of your sons were able to give you that close, smooth shave
that we were all used to seeing you with!
I know that moustache must have been driving you crazy after a while!
Dad, Mary, Julia, Jerry and Bob
Mary, Julia, Dad, Lorraine, Me, and Mimi
Dad, Aunt Mary and Uncle Glen
Aunt Mary was happy to be able to read your birthday cards to you! :)
Celebrating 81 years of life!
You always did enjoy the ice cream that the nurses would bring you.
Jerry would always make sure they were bringing you some yummy snacks! :)
*******************************************************************************
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JERRY!
10-30-11
We gathered together at the house to celebrate Jerry's 57th birthday and praise God that you have been able to spend some time at home lately! So many trips back and forth -- to the hospital - to the SNF - back home again. It's so not fair! Nicole asked you if you felt strong enough to hold Mikey and of course you jumped at the chance! Oh Daddy, we are all praying for a miracle. We all want you to be home so badly -- for good -- and healthy. Things are just not the same without you here every day, seeing you working on your crossword puzzles, smelling that familiar aroma of coffee in the mornings, and watching your always energetic enthusiasm to participate in whatever project is going on!
Mikey and his Great Grandpa
THE INTRODUCTION
10-17-11
With the birth of our first grandbaby, "Mikey Bear", I thought it was only blue skies and sunshine ahead. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what was in store for us over the next few months!
Thank you Nicole & Mike for taking Mikey to see his great grandparents! GG and GGpa look SO very happy! What a dirty trick that GGpa had to be in the hospital for this joyous meeting! Don't you KNOW he would have LOVED to hold him! :)
*******************************************************************************
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKEY!
10/11/11
On a happier note, just a month and a day later, Jerry and I became grandparents to Michael Bradley Briones on 10/11/11. What a doll he is! We even got to be at the hospital on delivery day!!
Uncle Dennis and Baby Mikey
Uncle Chris and Baby Mikey
Nicole & Mike with Baby Mikey - What a trooper Nicole was...
after a long hard labor with no progress the doc ended up doing a C-section
Proud Papa Mike with Grandpa Jerry and Baby Mikey
Me with my very first grandbaby! A day I will NEVER forget!
What a precious gift from God!
*******************************************************************************
DENNIS TURNS 30!
10-8-11
On 10-8-11 we celebrated Dennis' 30th birthday. (Sadly, never in a million years did we think that would be Dad's last outing or that it would turn out to be the last place he would ever drive himself and Mom in the car.) Thank you God for giving us such a lovely day to celebrate all together! Together truly is the best place to be!
Thank you Dennis for taking the time to have such a special relationship
with your grandparents!
with your grandparents!
Once again Nicole comes through with a beautifully decorated cake!
Grandpa's last time to oversee the cutting of the cake. :(
The Padgetts
(and the Briones')
(Baby Mikey in the oven - Big Mike had to work)
Dennis -- The First 30 Years!
*******************************************************************************
CHRIS TURNS 32!
9/13/11
CHRIS TURNS 32!
9/13/11
Poor Christopher spent his birthday night driving me to the hospital to visit Dad. It's still so hard to believe that our strong, invincible patriarch has been hospitalized. They are still running tests and trying to figure out the best course of action to combat the brain tumors.
Oh dearest Lord, please protect our Dad and Grandpa and soon to be Great Grandpa!
*******************************************************************************
BABY SHOWER DAY!
9/10/11
THE EXPECTANT PARENTS ~ GRANDPARENTS & GREAT-GRANDPARENTS!
WHAT A HAPPY FAMILY!
We're all waiting to meet you little Mikey!
On Saturday 9/10/11 we were attending a baby shower for Nicole & Mike at the Knights of Columbus hall picnic area in Lancaster when Dad (Great Grandpa to be) had "an episode". He couldn't even remember driving from Chatsworth to Lancaster that day -- which is NOT like him at all. He has always been our rock, our go-to-guy, the patriarch of the Walinski clan. Gene & Kathy drove him and Mom home and then took Dad over to Kaiser Hospital ER in Woodland Hills where they examined him and admitted him with bleeding in the brain. That was the first punch of the 1-2 sock in the gutt. The second was that they did a brain scan and discovered tumors -- nobody ever wants to hear that word associated with a friend or a loved one -- and especially not our beloved Daddy! A couple of weeks later after a brain biopsy they diagnosed him with lymphoma. Luckily he has an awesome team of doctors and the latest is that they want to install what is called an Ommaya Reservoir to administer the chemo directly into his brain to attack those nasty tumors.
Dear Lord, Please protect our Dad/Grandpa/Brother/Uncle/Friend and loving husband as he progresses through the course of this illness and his chemotherapy. His faith is so very strong and we believe that you can do anything you choose to do, especially for someone as kind and gentle as this strong, holy, and loving Catholic man!
Please also help our Mom, his wife of 57 years. She is trying her best
to deal with all of this but it's not easy.
~If the Lord brings you to it He'll bring you through it!~
*******************************************************************************
ARIZONA ROAD TRIP!
June 2011
We had a lot of fun on this trip. I know we took more pictures than these -- when we went to visit Bisbee and Douglas and the Karchner Caverns but for right now I'm not sure where the other ones are... so discouraging that I seem to lose some really special pictures! :(
Anyway we stayed at a hotel in Tombstone and ate dinner twice at this restaurant during the time we were there. It was a lot of fun seeing a part of history and being just down the street from the OK Corral and around the corner from Boot Hill. We could almost hear the music from the saloons and some of the old-time conversations and gun fights, and see the tumbleweeds rolling down the street! Definitely part of the wild west history!
Mom & Dad enjoying some shade and a little breeze.
Here we all are in front of the Birdcage Theater --
supposedly a hot spot with ghost hunters!
~~~~~~
6/22/11 - GRADUATION DAY!
FT. HUACHUCA, AZ
As soon as Mom & Dad and Jerry and I heard about Julia's graduation, we started making plans for our road trip to Arizona, and I am SO GLAD that we did! The temperature was well over 100 in southern Arizona at that time but the "pro's" well outweighed any "con's" on the list! And the smile on Julia's face said it all! :)
Little did we know it would turn out to be the last road trip we were fortunate
enough to be able to take with Mom & Dad! :(
On Wednesday afternoon, 6/22/11, we attended the first part of the ceremony
at the parade grounds. The young men and women did a great job of marching and we were trying hard to figure out which one was Julia! :)
Catching up with our favorite soldier!
Some very proud grandparents!
And god-parents!
Following the marching and Julia getting back into her "civi's" Grandma and Grandpa treated us all to dinner at Julia's favorite restaurant-- MY BIG FAT GREEK RESTAURANT.
The next morning we got to attend the graduation ceremony.
Grandma and Grandpa are so proud of you Julia and we were all
happy to be able to share this day with you!
Even Jenn made the trip in your car so you could drive it back home!
Southern Arizona was on fire in the weeks before we made the trip and they had some of the soldiers from Ft. Huachuca helping with fire suppression. You can still see some of the smoke over the hill in the background.
