Steve's brother, David, had been dealing with cancer for a couple of years. Prior to that he had heart issues and diabetes, plus he was overweight. The day it was discovered Steve had died (January 12, 2018), David had to be air-lifted to Rochester due to a huge infection in his body and he remained in Intensive Care for about five days and then spent an additional four days in St. Marys Hospital. Thus, he couldn't attend Steve's memorial service. This past summer he wasn't doing well and was told he had about three to five years to live. December 4th, Heidi and I drove down to Austin to have a meal with David and Donna. He looked frail, but was able to eat at the table with us. By this past Christmas his diagnosis was shortened to three to five months. His kids and their kids came for Christmas and it was a great celebration.
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| David's family Christmas 2018 |
January 9th of this year, Peder and I drove down to Austin to be with David. I took a prayer shawl with me to give to him, knitted by someone in my church's knitting club. David looked very week and had oxygen going into his nose. Initially he had a bit of trouble conversing with us, but then he seemed to wake up and was sharp, very sharp. I wrapped the shawl around his shoulders and he said it felt nice, comforting. He and I reminisced about our second grade teacher who taught us to knit. David did a very good imitation of her with her blinking eye condition. We had a good time.
The following day a hospice nurse came and a hospital bed was delivered to their house. It was determined David could rest and breathe better with the bed. The nurse warned Donna that David would be on a steady decline and she gave him about two months. David lived six more days—dying one year and four days after Steve died. All of his kids were with him and they had a beautiful communion service with him the day before he passed.
Hans and Heidi flew home to attend his funeral which was this past Monday, January 21. The service was very nice. I was impressed with the pastor who no doubt had had a very good relationship with David. In my opinion, the best thing that happens when a death occurs is the reunion of family and friends at the memorial service. It was wonderful seeing David and Steve's sister, Cece, and her sons Michael and Ben. Since they live in California, we just don't get to see them often. Also, Andrea's husband, Troy, managed to detour to Minnesota when he was supposed to be in India for the filming of a special NBA documentary. Her son, Jaxon, and his wife, Hannah, and her daughter, Morgan, also came from long distances. I hadn't seen them in a very long time. A nice lunch was served after the service followed by family photos. Here are some of them.
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| Our family |
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| Part of the family |
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| Tim, Donna, Andrea, Amy |
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| Amy's family |
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| Andrea's family |
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| Tim's family |
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| Ben, Cece, Michael |
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| Yours truly; my sister-in-law, Donna; my sister-in-law, Cece |
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| Hans, Heidi, Peder |
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| Heidi, Hans, yours truly, Peder |
