I had to take a break from blogging last week. I drove to Lee's hometown Patty's Day wknd for a visit with Lee's Nana. It was hard to turn and make my trek when it was time to head back home Sunday afternoon because I knew I was saying goodbye to Nana. That evening after I got back home I received a call that Lee's Nana passed away. It was an incredibly busy week.
The next morning, last Monday a couple of our best friend's welcomed baby #2.
Blake is so gosh darn cute. Gotta love those cheeks.
10 lbs 6 oz, 22 inches
I got them a basket of goodies to munch on while in the hospital. You can see the giant balloon in the background. Of course I took balloons. I heart balloons. I took Monday to celebrate Blake before driving back 3.5 hours to Lee's hometown on Tuesday to celebrate Nana's 95 years of life. Nana had a rich and wonderful life, her sweet heart just wore out. Taylor and Jacob stopped by the hospital to celebrate Blake too.
This is Blake not happy with my picture taking.
I got to Lee's family Tuesday afternoon. Much was said and done last week. I wish Lee could have been part of it all too. I tried. After telling Lee about Nana's passing, at Lee's request I sent a message through Red Cross to get an official message into Command to see if Lee could make it to the funeral because he and Nana were incredibly close but my request was denied. Apparently there had been 3 others requesting funeral leave recently within the unit and had been denied. You can't approve for one and not the others. Totally understandable but still sucked. However, my experience with Red Cross was better than I had expected it to be.
In the military, if there is an emergency and you need to get a message to your deployed loved one-you send a message through Red Cross. I had feared having a moment like this. I had prepared for a moment like this. I even made a note for myself on the refrigerator in case of emergency. Still, I googled "Red Cross Military Emergency" and easily accessed THIS page to get their number. I called the number and gave Red Cross my message. They asked for Lee's information and then said they needed to contact hospice to confirm Nana's death. After I called Lee's mom and got the contact information for Hospice, I called Red Cross back with the information they needed to complete my message. They said they would be calling Hospice and Lee's mom to confirm his permission to attend the funeral. I thought that was odd and even said so out loud but nothing much surprises me anymore with the military. Nonetheless, my Red Cross experience was pain free. Not much of a hold waiting to speak to a representative either. I think I found that most impressive. Also, the 3 individuals I spoke to were nothing but nice and understanding. I was told the message would be delivered within 48-72 hours but only 2 hours later I got a call from Lee with his answer from Command. Boo. Red Cross called me the next day to confirm my message had been delivered accordingly. Again, I was very impressed.
I was able to take off work all week so I spent much of the time with Lee's family helping out where I could. The week flew by and before I knew it, Monday was here again. I had a lot to catch up and do yesterday. I'm still wishing it were the weekend but who isn't, right?
This was the 6th funeral for Lee to miss attending with me since preparing for this deployment. That convo can be for a whole other blog post.
RIP
My Grandad
My sweet Uncle John
Great Uncle Ivan
Kenneth (Family Friend)
Dana (SIL's sister)
Nana
...another military spouse experience in our book of fairy tales.
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