>>>>
>>>>No big deal. I was just checking in with a brief update, some of which is not news to you. I started a new full time job on Monday. So far, so good. I am hardly home during the work week so my prediction of being scarce on the UT is looking accurate. My father is dying. Maybe I should just keep my UT posts to Twitter dimensions and I'll be fine <g>.
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>>>remember to put on your running shoes at least twice a week - especially at such times.
>>>
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>>My dad's life came to a conclusion with shocking speed. He was diagnosed with cancer less than three Sundays ago, April 22, and died 10 days later. My relatives and I all seem to be in the same state. It happened so quickly we aren't all the way there to accepting that he is gone. We have gone back to our normal lives with the impact rolling over us like a slow tide. Several people have said to me that it may be years before you're completely through it.
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>>The funeral and surrounding events were not as sad as I had imagined they would be. It was good to see my family (we are widely scattered) and old acquaintances. I also met some people I didn't know. Three of those who made the biggest impression on me were people who worked for him. I knew he had good jobs but didn't know about the personal impact. One of them, who had a pretty high position as warehouse manager, said he was an order selector when my father joined the company and owes more to him than anyone, even his own father. The other two were truck drivers. One of them is an ace in truck driver "rodeo" competitions. There are local contests, which bubble up to state and then national. This guy has won the Maine competition 8 times and the national competition twice. He said before my dad joined Hannaford the drivers were one step above dogcatcher. He opened his sport coat and showed me the gold buckle he won at one of the nationals. "I don't wear this very often," he said.
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>>http://obituaries.bangordailynews.com/obituaries/bdnmaine/obituary.aspx?n=virgil-elroy-beane&pid=157453811
>My condolences Mike,
>
>I lost my dad and my wife's dad last summer within a week of each other.
>
>Judy and I are off to Budapest today to work at a summer camp for orphans. Just a week but I am looking forward to it having never been there.
>
>Here's to your continuing struggles and may peace be with you.
>

Thank you, Ken. Have a good and productive time in Budapest. Your true Christian spirit is one of the reasons you are one of my favorites here.

My condolences for the losses of the fathers. My sister Rachel just had a similar double whammy. Her mom's brother John, who lived near Hartford, always the uber indulgent uncle, went away just as fast as our dad did. He was seemingly OK, then a diagnosis of leukemia, then into the hospital, and suddenly on life support. That whole episode also happened in about a two week span. The deaths of John and our dad overlapped to such an extent she wasn't sure she would be able to attend John's funeral. (She did). Plus she's 7 months pregnant. Now at least she can focus on that after all the drama.