Christmas 2022: Day of Shock and Mourning

Second post of the day.

I have decided that I will go ahead and write about this past  Christmas - while James' passing was incredibly sad for us, we did have many moments of joy. If you don't care to read about it, just come back in a few days and the blog will be back to usual. 

December 22, James died of a heart attack at home. First responders made it to him before he passed, and we find comfort that he did not die alone. Our entire family was knocked sideways with grief and disbelief at the news.

An immediate worry was getting down to Indianapolis to check on James' four cats as the storm had finally hit Indiana and the winds were howling, the temps dropping, and the snow blowing. The first responders, though, had taken care of that - they told Lisa that she did not need to come down for a couple of days. They had cleaned out the cat pans and added fresh litter, filled water bowls, and put out enough cat food to last for several days. The cats would be okay. Those folks will always be heroes in my book.

While Craig and I were at Lisa's helping her through the first hours of loss, Sarah made sure her siblings knew what had happened and the rest of the family all gathered at our home, subdued and quiet, wondering what they could do to help Lisa through this terrible loss. 

She joined us mid afternoon, and the family closed ranks around her, offering shoulders to cry on, solace, and privacy if she wished. Craig and I told her to take over our bedroom - there was still just a smidge of room at the inn left. In fact, Lisa stayed all night with us.

Christmas preparations continued and we tried hard to not totally derail the holiday for the eight younger grands; they knew that James had died and that we were all sad, but I don't think they really understood much beyond that.

Aside from Todd making his famous Oreo balls and Ritz Cracker Tagalongs, the only other pictures from that awful day are very personal ones of Lisa so out of respect for her, I won't show those.

Late in the evening, Curt, Vanessa, Cole, and Emily took their families back to Curt's home for the night. Instead of going back to her Aunt Lisa's home, Trinity stayed at our house and slept on a couch upstairs. Craig slept on the living room couch, and I slept in the recliner in our bedroom where I was close to Lisa if she needed me.

I cried myself to sleep that night - I cried for James, I cried for his children, and I cried for Lisa.