Karen and I had arrived at the Rogers' place in Round Rock 10 days ago on the 22nd. We were talking on Black Friday, 28th, about going away to the coast again for 10 days or so. The nieces would be back in school on Monday, Dec 1st, and maybe we'd need some time apart from the family before coming back together for Christmas week.
Friday evening we were planning on where to go and for how long when Karen's brother, Vern, called from Seattle. We were kind of expecting a call since he and his father, Dick, were supposed to be traveling down to Yuma, AZ in the RV.
The phone call wasn't good news. Dick was taken by ambulance to the emergency room with heart attack symptoms. It wasn't. Eventually, they installed a tube to drain bile that was making him jaundice.
After returning to the hospital the following Monday to hear the analysis of the biopsy they had done, he was told he has inoperable pancreatic cancer.
We booked a flight home immediately to help with his care, to get him out of the retirement home he just moved into in September, and to do whatever else we could do to help.
Our flight was a week away, so we busied ourselves with projects around the Roger house, taking the girls to school, and Jessica's "Sweet 16" birthday.
Mark and Margaret had purchased a new front door but it was sitting behind the couch. The current one had a window in it from top to bottom.
We cleared out a space for me to work in the garage and I got busy sanding it and staining it. Once the new door was ready to install, Mark helped with demolition of the old one.
With occasional phone calls to Vern in Seattle we were able to get it installed correctly.
The next morning we installed the trim.
Our niece, Jessica, and 4 friends were taken down to San Antonio for her Sweet 16 birthday party celebration. Karen went along to keep Margaret company.
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