Dootnie Speaks: Last Trip to Cellar Mountain – Part 1
My Dad, Dootnie, died June 27, 2010 of complications from cancer surgery. He was 71 years old. I intend to write a full-length post about fulfilling Dad’s request to be taken to Cellar Mountain after he died, but I haven’t finished thinking it out yet. April 29 would have been his 72nd birthday. The day [...]
Dootnie Speaks (10): The Things He used to Do
I was up at my Mom’s house at Pine Forest last weekend to do some work. Debbie and Lindsey and I took a power washer and spent the better part of the afternoon washing the house. She went to Crewe as we were finishing and brought back some pizza for us to eat. As we [...]
Pine Forest Nottoway – a tour, of sorts
I went out to Pine Forest yesterday to cut grass and fish a (very) little. I spent about four hours cutting grass and trimming around the pond, and maybe thirty minutes fishing. I’ve written about Pine Forest a lot, and I thought I would put together a post to show you what it looks like. [...]
Dootnie Speaks (6): On Work
Dad was a hard-working man, and he taught me and my siblings about the value of hard work. Not through words so much, but through example. His diligent and progressively more responsible work over his teenage years and adult career earned him and my mother a comfortable retirement. We were not well-off by monetary standards, [...]
Dootnie Speaks: The Great Marble Drop
A brief introduction My Dad, Frank Reid Sr., passed away on June 27 – just a few weeks ago. After the trauma of his not-entirely-unexpected but too-soon death from complications related to renal cancer, my siblings and I have had some time to reflect and remember some of the things we loved about him. He [...]
Dootnie vs. Cancer: The show must go on…
Image by nimboo via Flickr Five days, thirteen hours, and six minutes. That’s how long it’s been (at the start of this writing, anyway) since my Dad passed from this place to a better one. Our faith in God gives us assurance that this is so. Our faith in God also assures us that he [...]
Dootnie vs. Cancer: Three
By now, a lot of you that know me know that my Dad -Dootnie- lost his battle with cancer this morning. That little gem -”lost his battle”- is one of the fancy, but palatable, ways we use to say “he died.” I (we) now have a better appreciation for the grim details that are covered [...]
Dootnie vs. Cancer: Two
An update Dad at Pine Forest, Christmas 2008 Last night, nurses informed my sisters that Dad was off of both of the vasopressors (the drugs that raise blood pressure), and that he appeared to be regulating that on his own. They also said he was being fed through a tube – this would be the [...]
Dootnie vs. Cancer: One
Image of Franklin L. Reid Note: I’m writing this series of posts for two reasons: to fill the gap left when Dad couldn’t write on his own blog anymore (privately followed by our family and friends, it was his way to communicate what was going on with his chemotherapy treatments); and, because I can’t think [...]
Attention: Please Report to the Small World Department
From time to time, we are reminded of how small the world is, from a relationship perspective. We renew old friendships, or have a chance conversation with someone new, and discover -lo, and behold!- we are connected in a way that previously we didn’t know. It’s like our own personal game of 7 degrees of [...]
Funerals and graduations – beginnings and endings
The last couple of weeks have been eventful. Our family has seen events sad and joyful, of beginnings and endings physical and metaphorical. My Dad’s youngest brother passed away, and my oldest child, Lindsey, graduated from college. Normally, either of these events would warrant an individual post. The strange juxtaposition of sadness and joy, and [...]
The "Anti-Bird Machine"
I wrote earlier in the week about helping my Dad build an enclosure for his new blueberry plants. It’s an 8′x10′x8′ structure assembled from 1×2′s, a couple of 2×4′s, and some chicken wire. We finished everything but the door – I had framed it up, but it needed to be painted, covered with wire, and [...]
My Dad is okay.
My dad had surgery this week to remove a tumor from his kidney. A big tumor – 10 lbs. There wasn’t really much left of the kidney; the tumor had consumed most of it. It was cancerous – a renal carcinoma is the medical term. But, it appears that the cancer was contained to the [...]
