Depressing Times

I realize it's been a while since I posted but things have been a bit depressing.

Back in June we came back to Ma. because my mother's health was failing and at 95, we knew she was getting ready to leave us. We arrived home on a Tuesday and she passed  peacefully two days latter.

For the past year, our close friends Don & Lucy have been at a campground about an hour away from where we were in Florida. Don was there because he was diagnosed with stage four melanoma. He was given a year to live if he did nothing but there was a drug program going on at a Cancer hospital in Fl. as well as Ma..

Don was able to get into the study at the Florida hospital and was getting positive results from the med's. The downside was the side effects were bad and he had to drop out. Another program was offered and again the tumors began to shrink immediately but his system could not handle the side effects and he was put in the hospital.

Once he began to get his strength back, he was given a minimum dosage of another Cancer drug. This time he was better able to handle the side effects and the tumors were beginning to shrink again. This seemed to finally give hope that he would be around for a while but that wasn't to be.

Don had a right brain stroke after being on the new med for a few weeks. It was determined that the stroke was not the results of the meds or cancer. At this time Don decided he wanted to return home to Maine so they found a campground to stay at.
Because of the stroke, Don was no long given the cancer meds and his tumors have progressed rapidly.

The doctors now have given Don no more than a month. Joyce and I are in Ma. visiting family and settling my mothers estate so we decided to go to Maine to help where we could with Don. Joyce stayed in Maine to help Lucy take care of Don and I had to return to Ma. to have some work done on the coach. I plan to return to Maine in a few days. I did get to spend some time with Don and we talked about a lot of things we are going to do but I'm afraid that he will be gone before I get back up there.

Don and Lucy have been very dear friends of ours for over twelve years. We have traveled together in our coaches across many states and I will miss our times of going to airshows, interesting places, or just sitting around having a drink and chewing the fat. As I sit here with tears in my eyes......I am going to miss my old buddy Don.

Fun In The Water

It was a warm day and the water got really calm so.

I decided to take a ride. This Sea Doo has a four cylinder 1400cc engine and has a top speed of 70 MPH.

 Wow, I felt like a kid again but had to go easy when Joyce got on.

 Later in the day the geese go buy. We counted 60 in a row.

 After a hard game of Frisbee, Casey headed right for the water

The water was a bit yucky with weed growth.

 So after a swim, she got a good rinsing.

 The are a half hour from us was hit with a tornado that did minimum damage.

 It was strange how some trees were pulled out of the ground and others not touched.

 Another tornado hit in the area three days ago and four people were lost in that storm.

Enjoying Some Down Time

Our friends Mark and Janice who were camped next to us in Florida, have a place on Lake Oneida in NY. Their home is about thirty minutes away from their lake site. They invited us to use the site and just relax.

 As you can see, Mark is still working on their site. That's his coach to the left. He plans to have the site completed by October and we have been invited back then.

This is the view of the lake from our door. The lake is six miles wide and twenty four miles long.

It's not enough that we have full hookup on a concrete pad, he also left his Jet Skis for us to use. Thanks Mark!!!

We Are In :)

We have finally passed the final inspection and moved in. It ended up being five weeks beyond what the contractor first stated. Everything is slow here, they call it the "Florida Way". 

Not much time for relaxation....my Mom who is 96 is not doing well, she has had a great life and spent many years enjoying her Grand, Great Grand, and Great Great Grandchildren who all live close by.

 

So it's time to be heading home to see Mom and our family.