A Bridal Shower, a Birthday, a Death and a Memorial Mass

4:16am

That is the time I woke up. Why did I wake up? Well the red light on the alarm clock went dark and it woke me up. The power is off…crap!  I look outside and there is at least 5 inches of snow…double crap! It is Bridal Shower Day and we have no power and there is a lot of snow outside. I couldn’t fall back to sleep. I started to stress out. No heat, no way to warm up the food and quite a few people going a long distance to get here…what the heck am I to do?  So I stressed. Mom, Mike and I sat in the dark living room and was Facebooking on our phones. What else could we do? I called the power company and had to deal with stupid questions like “did you check the fuse box?” Well duh! And “do your neighbors have lights?” It is 4:45 am on a Saturday morning, I’m not going to call them to find out. Mom said she could really go for toast and coffee so Mike and I went in the 4x4 sleigh over the river, through the snow, over the hills through the woods to Kwik Trip. Thankfully when we got home the lights were back.

The Bridal Shower

I have to say we had a fantastic time. All of her aunts on her dad’s side were there. A cousin or two, all the bridesmaids (one drove from Illinois and one from Duluth (in the snow). Bradley’s Mom drove all the way from Amboy, MN too. We had eat great food (thanks Mom), played a few games and she opened presents. Here are some photos:

The cake and Danielle

With the Moms

The Schanks

The Biseks and Anna

The Bridesmaids and the Bride

       

    

A Birthday

After everybody left and we cleaned up, we went out for dinner for my birthday. After dinner we drove to Independence to see Christmas lights. It was a great birthday and I went to bed feeling like I had a great birthday…

Dan

Sometime after we went to bed, we got a text that Eric’s brother Dan had passed away after a long battle with cancer. A sad end to my birthday. I’m grateful he is at peace and no longer in pain. Even though we knew it would happen soon, it didn't prepare me for when it did happen. He will be missed. I have many fond stories of Dan, my most favorite is his inability to use a hammer. I was paired with him to frame windows in the basement remodel. We had fun, he always praised my hammering abilities.  I thank my dad for that…

Speaking of my Dad…

Sunday morning was the Memorial Mass for my Dad. Celebrating his life and death. It has been 8 years. It was a rough Mass for me. I cried for my Dad, I cried for Dan…it was very emotional.