Cafe Howard: Reflections of Steve

It's been about a week and a half since John's dad passed away. For those of you who didn't know, Steve had been in the hospital for about 3 months. He underwent emergency surgery on his colon around April which doctors didn't think he would make it through. He miraculously pulled through it and began to stabilize. He was then moved to a long term care facility where he received great care. He continued his dialysis, physical therapy and other treatments. Although his mind was good, his body was deteriorating. At one point, he looked real fragile. He lost alot of muscle mass, so his arms were small and frail, his face was thin and his eyes were sunken in. The Thursday before he passed, he looked better, but his body was still weak. On Saturday, John and his uncle went to discuss the next steps with him. They decided that Steve would be more comfortable spending the rest of his life at home. Unfortunately, they were not able to proceed with that because on Monday, May 25th he passed away at 5 am. Although, the family knew of his condition, we did not expect for him to pass away so quick.

It was a hard week. John, his mom, sister and brother had to deal with alot of "business". We had a wonderful Maronite (Lebanese) funeral and the visitation was one to remember. There were so many people that came to pay there respects. Steve had so many family and friends. The line was so long that some people had been waiting close to an hour. Everyone wore their Hawaiian shirts in honor of Steve. It was a great celebration of his life.

Now that things have settled down, John and I sit back and think about him and how he is no longer around for advise, good food and laughs. The day he passed away, we told Isabel what happened. She was sad, asked a few questions and then went about her day. The kids were around for the visitation and funeral, but didn't really know what was being celebrated. What saddens me the most is that he won't be around to watch them grow up. I hope that their memories of Steve will not be lost. Of course, John and I will always talk about him, so they will always remember how wonderful he was.

Family picture right after Noah was born