Some totally cool monks

Found in an undocumented box. I have no clue!

I found these too late to share at Richard's service

Bernadette, Aunt May and Aunt Anna

Marcia, Howard, Bernadette, Howard, Bob, Marianne and Richard.

The Cleveland Years

The until-the-next-revision official obituary.

Richard James Parker died at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital in the early afternoon of Tuesday, February 18^th, 2015. His last hours were spent surrounded by family and friends.

Richard was born on April 6, 1951 in Woodbury, NJ, the second son of Howard and Bernadette (Sloan) Parker. His twin brother beat him into the world. Richard lived in the same house on Hazel Avenue in Westville, NJ from birth until he graduated from Gloucester Catholic High School in 1969. From there his adventures took him to the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC where he earned his bachelor’s degree in drama. Richard’s love of plays and his degree took him to theatres in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and finally to the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, OH where he worked as the Business Office Manager.

After years of working the business side of the stage, Richard returned to Catholic University, earned his MFA and was immediately hired by Catholic as a professor and Business Office Manager. He worked at CUA until his move to Hood River.

Richard had another side of his talent that complimented his work in the theatre. He had an amazing voice and loved to share it.

In 1998, Richard moved to the Hood River Valley. His work as an instructor of drama at CGCC, and his volunteer work with CAST, Showcase Singers, St. Mary’s Choir, Theatre Company of The Dalles, Riverside Community Church Choir and so many other organizations quickly made him a part of the community.

Along with theatre and music, Richard had a penchant for travel. He got great pleasure from his journeys. Along with much of the United States, he traveled to Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Iceland, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Canada.

And let’s not forget his Saints, Claude and Hazel and Ralph and Trixie, who were dear and near to him. And there were some cats he was fond of, too: Spike and Max and Tillie and Tom.

Richard is survived by his partner, Mac Cornelison of Hood River, twin brother Howard (Marcia) of Harrisburg, PA, brother Bob (Donald Burns) of San Diego, sister Marianne of San Diego and a myriad of cousins in New Jersey (and other locales).

Richard

Below is a link to a memorial that the funeral home here in Hood River has created for Richard.

http://www.andersonstributecenter.com/book-of-memories/1808389/Parker-Richard/index.php

Montana Humor

I found these postcards as I gingerly started going through Richard's things.

I'm pretty sure this is a favorite sport in Alaska, too!

Poor puppies!

I assume that his friend, Mark, can take credit for these being in Richard's possession.

Richard James Parker

And I cling tight to a crotchety old cat named Max.

I’ve always had dread in my heart when the phone rings at 1:30AM. This morning validated my angst. It was Chris, Richard’s nurse. She said that his breathing had become more labored and that she had concerns.

I was there in a reasonable amount of time. Okay, I thought I was moving at the speed of light. But when I figured out it took me about 50 minutes to get to the hospital, I have to assume that a snail would have given me a run for my money. Assuming the snail could drive a car.

I spent three hours with Richard, trying to sleep in an uncomfortable chair while freezing my ass off. Why do they keep hospital rooms so cold? I knew I needed to do something different. I went home and slept in my bed for an hour and a half. I’m glad I did. A whirlwind followed.

No, it wasn’t really a whirlwind. It moved faster than I was prepared for, but “whirlwind” would be an unfair comparison. I was unprepared.

Okay, how do you prepare to lose the man you have loved for 16 years? Who wrote the manual, and why wasn’t I issued one?

Stepped out on the back porch, stark ass naked:

Fuck Cancer

Richard is gone.

There is little humor in Hooterville this evening.

Richard is at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital.

Our friend, Alison came out today for an appointment as a home health care nurse. Her findings, my testimony and a call to Richard’s doctor led to an ambulance at our front door. He was express checked into the hospital and by the time I got there (maybe 10 minutes after the ambulance), there was a bevy of medical professionals attending him in a private room with a dramatic view.

Why is it when there is a bevy of medical professionals gathered around a patient in a private room with a dramatic view the news is never good?

The tumor in Richard’s lung has grown. I saw the x-ray. It is close to the entire lung. There is a small part of the lower right lung that is still clear, but as the doctor said, “It really isn’t significant. No air can get there.”

And the tumor is blocking this vein and the other artery, and it is just being really nasty.

And there is nothing they can do. Three doctors, including Richard’s oncologist concurred.

Richard and I held hands and watched Jeopardy! together, as we always do.

Totally cool Olympic fact.

No US Men’s Hockey team has ever won an Olympic gold medal without have a player from Warroad, Minnesota on its roster. In 1960 it was brothers Bill and Roger Christian and in 1980 it was Dave Christian.

Pretty amazing for a town of 1,781 people!

Oh, and T.J. Oshie, on the current Olympic US Olympic Team is from Warroad!

The every other day Richard update for the week of whatever week this is.

Okay, before we get into the update, I do need to thank all you people who called the ASPCA to complain that I woke my cats up at 4AM to take uncomplimentary pictures. And to that one person who called PETA, wow, get a grip. First, cats are nocturnal animals, which is barely discernible as they basically sleep all the time, but you are more likely to catch them awake at 4AM than you are at 2PM.  

And second, I only took pictures. I did not force them into a death march to Bataan. There were no slave labor camps involved in the snapping of those photographs. No cats went hungry. There was no abuse involved. Really.

And Richard is slowly getting better. It is far too slow for my liking, but the pneumonia is ebbing. There is still a long way to go, but it is moving in a good direction. We’re beginning the process to have home health nurses come to the house and help. That will be good.

Let's keep with the cute cat pictures

Have you ever wondered what cats do at 4AM?

 Max plays sentinel in the hallway, protecting us from god-only-knows what.

Tillie maintains her cute cat persona all night long.

Tom lounges in Tommytown.

I think all three were irritated that I woke them to take a picture. And Max is usually on the bed. He spends a lot of time there, keeping Richard company!

Into everyone's life some fur must fall

Tom, doing two of his favorite things: laying on a keyboard and holding paws!

Another day, another doctor’s visit.

Once again, it was with the local physician. And it was much, much, much easier to get him into town.

Richard was happy to hear he had pneumonia. I was totally satisfied with the earlier diagnosis of a stray lung infection. Richard is convinced that having pneumonia is justification for staying in bed.

Okay, I may have missed the memo, but when did having stage four lung cancer that has metastasized to your brain discontinue qualifying you for bed time? Oh, and did I mention the three weeks of radiation of the brain? Pneumonia is just so over the top.

Richard is better than he was on Tuesday, but he is still one sick little puppy. His mind is closer to normal, he has regained control of his bladder and bowels (do I hear a rendition of the “Hallelujah Chorus” in the background?), his fever is gone and his shortness of breath and wheezing is somewhat better. But he is still very weak and tired. And getting him to eat is easy as teaching a lion to knit.

Okay, this is the nadir of his recovery from radiation. It gets better from here!

The morning after the day before.

I’m jealous. Richard says he can’t remember much about yesterday. Lucky bastard, I remember way too much.

I just close my eyes and put my hands over my ears and say over and over, “It will get better, it will get better, it will get better…”

No surprise, Richard is sleeping right now. He is better than yesterday in that he is communicating more precisely. Or maybe it is just that I am taking charge more decisively. That isn’t my style, but sometimes it needs to be done.

And a wrap-up.

I took Richard in to see his local doctor... no small feat. He has a lung infection and was prescribed antibiotics that should take it out. He's sleeping now.

Just another lousy day in paradise.

I almost got out of the house and headed to work. I was so close I could taste it. I had showered and shaved, grabbed my work clothes and was in the kitchen getting dressed, so as not to disturb Richard. Then I heard a feeble, “Somebody, help me!”

It hadn’t been a great night. Richard was up and down some and obviously was having troubles sleeping. But seriously folks, it was far from the worst night ever. It just wasn’t a great night.

He woke up before me this morning and was in the living room when I finally pulled my sorry ass out of bed. I made coffee and all the other early morning rituals and sat with Richard for a while. I got him a cup of coffee. I don’t think he even had a sip before he said he had to go back to bed.   

So, I helped him back to bed and went about the balance of my morning duties.

Thirty minutes later I hear, “Somebody help me!”

In the half hour that followed, I documented mild confusion, weakness to the point of not being able to sit up in bed, stand or walk without assistance, lack of balance and co-ordination, swollen feet, incontinence and bowel control issues, shortness of breath and a fever. On the bright side, his blood pressure was really, really good.

I have a call into the oncology department at Providence Portland.

FUCK CANCER!!!

On the good ship, Lollypop

Adieu, Shirley!

Updated Snow Pictures

By noon, I estimated 14" of snow. I may have been conservative, but with wind it can be hard to be sure.

Our first significant snow situation in a long time

It is possible that I am mistaken, but I think it has been since December of 2012 since we have had this much snow. So far it isn’t super impressive, maybe 6 inches, but it is suppose to snow more tonight. They’re saying 8 more inches or something like that.

You know I love snow. And you probably know I found a person to plow the driveway. (I have never called him my “Plowboy” and I think you should be ashamed for assuming I have!) So, as I was saying, I am just, “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!”

But Richard had a bad night. He couldn’t sleep. He admitted that he is terrified of being stuck alone at the house. I didn’t go to work today. He asked me to stay home. I guess he would rather be stuck here with me.

Richard is okay, but this round of radiation kicked his butt. They said it would be a couple or three weeks before he started to feel better. So maybe another week.

Who is that handsome child with the Saint?

Yes, I stole this off the 'Story of Rock'. But I will do anything for a post.

CVS drops cigarettes

CVS Pharmacy is discontinuing the sales of cigarettes.

Hip, hip hurray!

If there were a CVS in Hood River, I would do business there, but there isn't, so all I can do is encourage everyone else to patronize CVS Pharmacies!

I keep running into this all over the internet

And, well, d'oh!