RIP AN

I found out today that our AN passed away on Easter Sunday. The disease he had offers no chance of hope, and it’s still hard when you get the news. It is a universal experience that knowing full well someone you care about is going to pass doesn’t lessen the pain when they do.

I am reflecting on our AN’s service and friendship to our family. How he brought my parents firewood from his mill cuts when they could no longer split it themselves, took care of repairs for my mom even when he knew she was going to argue about paying him, (I paid every bill before the ink dried on the invoice to make up for my mom’s dementia induced grumpiness) and taught me so much about what is now my property that no one else could have because no one else had context for this piece of land, its buildings, systems and, uh, uniqueness. I am pretty resilient, and can diagnose many household annoyances, but our AN taught me how to problem solve at an entirely new level, and how to accept the fallout(s) of the problem(s) with grace until you get things fixed. ‘If the septic isn’t working, dig a hole to shit in, until the pipe is cleared.’ Don’t complain, just do what needs to be done. He also gave a stamp of approval to his ‘replacement,’ our GC.

Tomorrow would have been my dad’s 92nd birthday. Usually we’d leave on a Saturday, but I wanted to be here for dad’s birthday. There will be a whole lot of introspection going on.