Sad day

We found out right before Christmas that one of Trent’s co-workers, the athletic director at the college he works for, died of a heart attack.  Trent is the Sports Information Director this year at the college, too, so he worked with Carl quite a bit.  I know that this has really hit Trent and upset him since he had worked so closely with Carl, but he doesn’t say a whole lot.  We went to his funeral today, and it was hard.  Even though I didn’t really know the guy at all, I felt like I did because Trent talked about him all of the time.  By the way he always talked about him, I knew that Carl was a guy that had really taken Trent in under his wing and helped him get established in his new role at the college.  Trent loved his "meetings" with Carl (which turned out to be time set aside for them to meet and just chat) and having someone to talk to about sports.  I’m not sure if it’s totally hit Trent yet since they are off right now for break at the college.  I think that the first Monday morning will be tough because that’s when Trent always met with Carl every week.  It’s sad to think of a 53-year-old man being gone so suddenly due to a heart attack. The service was nice today and really kind of celebrated his life.  Carl coached softball at the college for the past 20 years, and it was amazing the number of girls that made the trip back for his funeral.  They were all dressed in their college softball t-shirts.  It was such an awesome sight.  I hope and pray that Trent finds some comfort in the coming weeks as we face the harsh reality that life is sometimes cut shorter than we think it should be and that we must truly cherish the time that we have. 

I also found out late last night that my mom made the decision to take my childhood dog, Misty, to the vet yesterday and have her put to sleep.  She has been struggling for a long time and has been in a lot of pain.  She was the sweetest dog ever, though, and had always taken a liking to my mom.  This past year before my mom found her new job, she was at home all day by  herself.  My mom really did become depressed at times because she couldn’t find a job, but Misty was always there to love her.  I know some people don’t understand how a dog can be like a family member, but Misty really was.  I knew that it was coming some time because Mom had talked about it, and there was really no point in having Misty suffer any more.  Still, it was difficult to hear that news last night.  It will really hit me the next time I go to my parents’ house and expect to have her greet me or see her pillow sitting around the house where she would be snuggled up sleeping.  For the past 13 1/2 years, she has been a part of my life.  I am so thankful for the many fun times that I had with her, especially while growing up, and it’s sad to think that my mom had to go through putting her to sleep yesterday. 

So, we’ve had some sad events this past week.  We are hoping to be able to stay at home together tomorrow and just have a lazy day.  I want a day where we lounge around and watch movies or do whatever we want.  We need a day like that in order to truly appreciate this break from work that we are getting. 

I’m not sure what our New Year’s plans are yet.  Someone needs to take our nephew back to KC on the 1st of January.  A lady there is going to keep him for a few days before Trent’s sister gets back from San Francisco.  We’ve talked about going a little early and spending some time with friends in the area, but I’m not sure if we will do that or not.  I’m kind of in a mood where I just want to be at home, but I have other friends along the way that would like to meet up.  I really do want to see everyone and will make an effort to do so, but I’m just not quite in the traveling mood at the moment.  We need to decide tomorrow what our plans are so that we can let others know. 

Well, my hubby has already headed to bed.  We got a new down feathertop mattress topper for our bed for Christmas, and I got it put on the bed today.  I am excited to head to bed and try it out tonight!  Hopefully it’s super comfortable! 

Good night, everyone!