Gosh, I just re-read my last two posts and realized how much I information I had already given. Well, as you can imagine, it has been a difficult couple of days.

I just want to thank my family and friends who have been so supportive today and forever.

First and foremost, is our son, Courtney. He has been a rock through all of this. He has held me when I needed it and let me cry without comment, and been a good grandson to his grandmother Miller and grandparents Hall. The best memory in the last day was when he and I sat on the couch with Darrel yesterday and held his hands and let him know we were there. Actually, it was one of the last really coherent things Darrel said. “I can’t believe I am sitting here hold Courtney’s hand.”

Next, my parents have also been rock solid and have been devastated by Darrel’s loss. I think it is because my mom always said that Darrel would be the one to wipe her butt when she was in her final days. Not me, but Darrel. Oh, well, mom, I guess it will be me after all. My parents have always been so supportive and there for us. We have many years in Mexico to thank them for as well as many other things. It is great to have parents like them.

My mother-in-law, Wilma, has been devastated by losing her eldest son and her husband in the last 2 years. Darrel has always been so close to his mom. I am so glad she was able to be here yesterday morning while he was still semi-coherent. We talked today about how quickly he went even after seeing her about noon yesterday.

My BFF from 6th grade, Vanessa, was right here for me today as she has always been and always will be. Her and I and Darrel and Gary had many a good time together over the last 30+ year. She is one of those that is so loving and caring like those you see posts about on Facebook (which she doesn’t do.) The ones that say no matter how long it has been all you have to do is call and she will be there. That is Vanessa!

Darrel’s sisters, Julie and Diane, were among the first to arrive today and have been keeping in touch and checking in. Diane had dropped off a Superman pajama outfit for Darrel on Thursday. He put it on and I forgot to take a picture like she requested. Sorry, Diane, it was perfect.

Darrel’s BFF brother, Wally was here with his ‘naked’ kiwis. He has been a rock for Darrel these months. I know this has been hard on him but he persevered and took Darrel mushroom picking and helped cut wood in the last month or so.

And, other brother Ed…who had to support and be a caretaker for his father, 2 short years ago and has been a rock for Wilma too. I know how hard this has been on him, too. Thankfully, he went with us to Sitka for the fishing trip and was able to spend that time with Darrel.

Sister Barb and her husband, Jim, tried to get here earlier this morning but were flying standby and couldn’t get on the early flight. They did make it in about 4:00 and Courtney picked them up and brought them here.

I had already had plans for a group of our crazy DMYC friends to come by after they were out celebrating a birthday. I knew Darrel wouldn’t be up to going and a couple of days ago I realized that I didn’t want to go and leave Darrel for any length of time. I still wanted them to come by today and they did. We had a great ‘wake’ for Darrel.

Thank you, Trish and Frank, for bringing a cheese and cracker platter. Courtney and I hadn’t really eaten today so that saved us. Plus, I can’t thank you enough for the tribute you wrote to Darrel yesterday. I will publish is soon. You both have been such great friends to us.

Marilee was on a girls weekend up on Whidbey (or Camano?) and had her daughter come pick her up so she could be here. That meant a great deal to me as it wouldn’t have been a party without her. (Did I get that right this time, Mar?)

What can I say about Garry, also known as “Asshole,” besides the fact that he has always been there when we needed him and wanted to be here last night. But, we said no. I wish we had said yes. He has been a great friend to “Butthead,” otherwise known as Darrel.

Yvonne and Simon have also been stalwart friends throughout this ordeal. Yvonne has sent me encouraging cards for months on a regular basis, plus calling me and checking in. They have meant a lot to me. Darrel, being Darrel, said she was wasting her money, but I can tell you she wasn’t. Simon has also meant so much to me. He is one of those who doesn’t want to show his emotions, but is always giving me a hug.

Jan and Bill Lande were here too. Jan has been so great at texting me or calling me regularly to check in. Bill has been a great friend to Darrel these last months. And they were Board of Trustees together at the club which alwaysgave them something to talk (bitch) about. Especially lately! They are always asking what they can do to help and will do anything for us and others. They shared our last Seahawk game with us last Sunday. It has been funny that Darrel has been so much into the games this year and last. He was swearing at the team so much, it was kind of funny, because he hasn’t been as much of a fan as I over the years.

Karen Hazzard was here too. She has been so awesome sending me encouraging emails all the time. She is the sweetest person you could ever want to know. Always upbeat and positive. I wish I could be more like her.

And then there was Barb and Jim, again. They stayed with the crazy club friends for our mini wake tonight. Barb has been a constant for me. Calling me on her way to work in the mornings and talking about anything, not just Darrel. But especially quilting, which inspired me to get back with it the last few weeks which has given me an outlet to be in the house being creative but also close to Darrel.

Jim fit right in with the crowd and was a superstar, famous author for Marilee. I had lent her a copy of his book, Turn again, Ptarmigan and her granddaughter has loved it and learned a lot from it. She even got a ‘fan’ picture with him tonight.

Then there all those of you who have texted, called, and emailed your support today. Too numerous to name or even count. It just showed me how much Darrel meant to everyone. I just want to apologize for those I didn’t contact personally. It was hard to think much less talk to people today.

I want to give a shout out to Carl Bryant for the lovely eulogy he did for Darrel on Facebook today. It brought me and others to tears. I will also publish it soon.

I have to say that I married a really special person. He almost always had a smile on his face. He laughed out loud when reading the comics, something that always made me smile to see. As Vanessa said, he was the smartest person she ever knew. Even though he didn’t go to college. He really did keep up on things by reading the paper daily, doing crosswords and other things like sudoku. I don’t think he ever got a complete Sunday New York Times Crossword, though, much to his dismay. He was still doing crosswords as of Thursday.

His math skills always amazed me. He could figure out math problems in his head while I was still pulling up a calculator.

As you all know, his real passion was fishing. From an early age and until a few weeks before he died, he was fishing. The one thing on his bucket list that he wasn’t able to do was catch a marlin. He tried many times in Mexico and also in Hawaii. We had talked about doing a trip in the spring to the Pacific Coast down by Central America, but that isn’t happening now.

Even though we only had one child, he was always so good with children. I think he was most of his nieces and nephews, Favorite Uncle. He really enjoyed taking them out on the boat and fishing, crabbing, and shrimping with them.

As someone said today, he is up in his version of the ‘ever after’ with a 90 pound salmon or a 500 pound marlin on his hook constantly.

We told each other on Thursday how it had been a great ride and it really was. Love you and miss you forever.

What a day…