Quick update on happenings....

To get back into the swing of things I will fill you in on WHY I haven't blogged in so long. I'm certain that after you read these, you will understand my reasons for taking a BLOG BREAK--

January 2007-
The Queen's father had to be put into a hospital bed in the Castle addition.
The Castle celebrated 10 years of life for PawPaw following his heart transplant
Prince 1 returned to U of A for his second semester

February 2007-
The Queen's father's health worsened and daily care for him escalated, requiring The Queen and King to handle care 2x a day or more (It was an honor!)

March 2007-
31st-My Daddy left....following an extremely difficult few months for us all, God took him to be with Him. No, I was not relieved....and yes, I wish he were still here, even though the care-giving was difficult. I so miss my icon.

I have NO regrets....nothing I wish I had said, nothing I wish I had done. I was fortunate to be able to love on him and care for him through his last few months, actually 10 + years. The three months that he was in bed gave us a tremendous opportunity to show him how much he is loved, how much he meant to us all and how missed he would be. No words could have done that.

The end was rough....diaper changes, feeding, repeating things numerous times, longing for him to understand. Here are a few of the opportunities that we had with him:

While the royal family lived in Bossier City Louisiana, The Queen saw the movie "Evita" one night while the Princes were at an activity and The King was TDY. I loved the music in this movie, purchased the soundtrack and learned many of the songs. I particularly enjoyed the song "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" and have enjoyed singing it (used loosely) for the last 12 years or so. It became a joke between me and my Daddy. I would begin singing it out of the blue and he would groan and say 'oh no.....not Argentina again!' I would continue singing and he would laugh and laugh. His smile and laugh will be with me forever! Nobody else will ever enjoy me singing the Argentina song like he did.....for sure.

From June of 2006 until January 2007 Daddy fell many times. Beginning around the fall of 2007, he began to fall often, never complaining. We would have to help him up off of the floor over and over again as his legs began to weaken. Because of his memory loss from encephalitis, he wouldn't remember falling prior to each fall. Oh how I wanted to protect his dignity so tried each time to console him and tell him that it was not a big deal. He would say that he hated for me to have to do this, and I would continue to tell him that I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Each and every opportunity to help him up, feed him, change him, bring him something to drink brought me joy and such satisfaction that I could serve him as he had served all of us for so long.

I want to write more, as there is so much more to share with you, but it is very difficult and I need to take a break. I promise though, I will tell you more about this man and what is going on in the Royal Castle in a day or so. Thanks again for reading....and have a Wonderful Wednesday!