Podcast 1:15 From Bad to Worse. Still Found a Couple Lemon Squares

Show Notes

This was a rough week for Paige & Darren, as Paige's mom is checked into the ER and while there her dad suddenly passes away. Darren was 3000 miles away on a work trip and Darren learned how to rely on friends to help out in the hopeless situation. A thousand-mile roundtrip, a broken down car and an emotionally and physically exhausting week led to many lessons learned.

Start of the Week

• Paige gets a call from her sister that her mom is in the hospital
• 2 hours later, news that her dad had a heart attack
• 30 minutes later, news that her dad had passed away
• Darren was in Washington DC on a Business trip with no way to get home until the next day
• Paige is surrounded by her friends for comfort
• Darren arrives the next day and hops into a car for a 7-hour drive to Southern California
• The three amigos are pulled out of the last two days of finals from middle school
• The school has been understanding after some heated emails to some teachers

The Passing of a Great Man

• Paige's mom went into the hospital because of dizziness 
• While she was in the ER her husband passed away from a heart attack
• Paige's Dad had been suffering from a chronic heart problem and was given 6 months to live 3 years ago
• While Paige's Mom was at the ER, their best friends "Dick and Claudia" came over to "watch" her husband
• We got to talk to "Dick and Claudia" about Johnnie's last moments. They were talking about baseball (one of his favorite things) and in mid-sentence he said "Oh no" and he passed away. 
• He went peacefully the way he wanted
• Johnnie was one of the kindest, gentle and God fearing men I have ever known 
• Paige always said that he could talk to a brick wall and make it feel wanted and loved
• One of the tender mercies of the week is when they brought Johnnie into the ER where his wife was
• They wheeled him right next to her so she could say good-bye and hold his hand
• The hospital staff was so amenable and loving toward Paige's Mom it was amazing
• Paige's mom had a battery of tests and at first, they were concerned that she had a heart attack herself but found out that she was fine. The vertigo was easily controlled with medicine and she was released 2 days later
• After spending a very emotional few days with family and friends filled with sorrow, memories, and laughs we were all ready to head home

The Drive home

• We left on Memorial Day to head home so we could get back to normal life
• About 2 hours into the trip our car started acting strange and after stopping and getting gas the car had a hard time starting
• We called the dealer where we got the car and they suggested we stop at the closest dealership we could find
• None of the dealer service centers were open on Memorial Day. so we were stuck, about 5 hours from home
• We left the car in Santa Clarita and tried to find a rental car place open to rent a car to get home
• Nothing was open in Santa Clarita so Darren took an uber 30 miles in the wrong direction to Burbank Airport where they could rent a car

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What is Where's the Lemonade??

They say when life gives you lemons you should make lemonade. Making lemonade is not always easy or possible. For us, we found ourselves single in our 40's with kids at home and starting life over again. Luckily we found each other, online no doubt. When we began blending families, schedules, traditions, and laundry, we discovered lots of lemons. Our podcast is a reflection on how we get through the hard times and enjoy the good times on our new journey together, all with ten kids in tow. Sometimes when life gives you lemons, you make lemon squares. Lemonade might come later.