Jack update II and Zack

Jack is home now. I think it was a little premature to take him home but they are handling it so far. Mark surprised them with a visit over Memorial Day and he stayed at their house and helped out. Jack has a hard time getting up from low seats so Kelly found him a lift chair that he can watch t.v. in and got him a high toilet seat. Dave and Mark put grab bars in the bathrooms and he has a therapist come in to help him build up his strength. Kelly came down and helped him take a shower. We had a BBQ on Monday at their house. Jack and Gennie loved seeing everyone. Kelly brought her family, and Brandon, Jodie, us, Bob and Diane. I called this morning to see how they were doing since Mark left. Jack said that Gennie was learning how to help him up when he needed it and they were getting by ok. His mind is slipping a little...He thought someone was at the door when the phone rang. Sometimes he tries to stay in goos spirits and other times he is quite grumpy and stubborn. I think he is tired of living with the effects of old age. He told me he loved me when he hung up the phone. It's a nice way to end a conversation.

Zack has exactly 7 weeks left before he leaves on his mission. We bought him two suits and four shirts, 4 pair of socks and a tie. He has one pair of shoes that he will take with him. Joyce gave us a long coat and said she has some lined gloves and she thinks she can hook us up with some luggage. Someone gave him a pocket-size hymn book and Cindy S. gave him some handkerchiefs. I told him it was a good idea to keep one in is pocket so he could wipe his sweaty hands before he shakes hands with people. I don't know where he got that from. Neither Dave or I get sweaty hands like that. Dave bought him a nice quad. We are planning on his "Last opportunity to speak" on July 13th, 11:00 a.m. 1900 N. 1000 E., Lehi. We will probably have a family/friends get-together the day before, because I have a class to teach and the Church asks us not to skip out for missionary dinners.

I am very excited for Zack to have this opportunity to serve a mission and have this experience in his life. Yet, my heart aches every time I think of being separated from him for such a long time. Zack and I try to go to the temple every week and we have enjoyed working together. I know he will be just fine, but I will miss him so much. I can selfishly say that this will be a hard transition for me. It makes me cry every time I think about it. I never thought it would be so hard to let someone grow up. I had better stop now and think about the weeds I need to pull so I can get these tears under control.

Jack Update

Jack was in a care center for a few days, but they didn't take very good care of him and he had to go back into the hospital at Utah Valley Med. Center. He's on the 7th floor if anyone wants to go visit. Yesterday he was still on mask oxygen because his saturations were too low. They found blood clots in his lungs. He said he is too tired to fight it and wants to join his parents in heaven.

Jack in the Hospital

Here is a post for all of you who know my father-in-law, Jack Holladay. They took him by ambulance to the hospital yesterday with severe back pain. He was so weak he couldn't get himself off the bed or couch, even to go to the bathroom. They found a fracture in his T12 spine and they think since that is where the pain is, that he made things worse when he was bending over picking the heads off the dandelions in his yard. He is feeling better today than he did yesterday. Dave and I got to the hospital at 7:00 p.m. last night and I found him all alone in the ER. I thought it was so sad. I sat and held his hand while he went in and out of consciousness (he was a little doped up on morphine and couldn't stay awake unless I talked to him the whole time). I sent Dave to check on his mom and I went with Jack to get a CT scan. Dave came back and we stayed with him until he was comfortably in his room and ready to go to sleep for the night. So far the doctors haven't found anything bad wrong with him that will cause long term disability. Other family members were with him throughout the day so he wasn't alone the whole time, just for a few hours....still, that must have felt very lonely. It was so sad to see him lying there with that O2 mask on his face, not really cognitive of what all was going on. We think we will be in the hospital a few more days. His O2 saturations are too low for them to release him right now. He was back to his old self when we visited him this evening. We hope that is very promising.