End of the line...

The first issue of Deal with the Real, titled Here’s the deal…., appeared about 40 months ago. Today Barb and Charles are posting blog #80 on his behalf. The date at the top may lead you to think this might be an April Fool’s joke, rest assured it is not. 

Speaking of April Fools jokes — The best one in my (Barb) memory is from 1987. Rick worked for the Freeman Courier, an award winning weekly newspaper that went to press every Tuesday and was on the local newsstands by Wednesday morning. April 1, 1987 fell on a Wednesday giving Editor Tim Waltner, Rick and other staff the perfect opportunity to create an April Fools front page. Back then, I thought it was the most clever publication I’d ever seen. I reread it today and still think the same. You can enjoy that issue here. 

Now for the “its no joke” part of this blog.  On March 26, Rick and I traveled to Freeman filled with the anticipation of attending Schmeckfest and spending time with family. The weekend was greatly enhanced by the presence of our children, various members of my family and Susan Schrag’s family, some of Rick's cousins, aunts, uncles and a great bunch of nieces and nephews.  A small brunch we had organized for Saturday morning with Rick's mom at the Salem Home turned into a "Speckfest" (Speck is the local moniker for the Orlando Schrag family). In all 44 people came. It was a great party.

As each day of the weekend passed Rick's health deteriorated. By Monday morning it became clear that he was in no shape to fly. A trip to the Freeman Regional Hospital ER confirmed what we were beginning to suspect — the disease would win this round. Freeman is where we will stay until his life ends. His kidneys have stopped functioning, the BP is very low. As one doctor said, “everything is out of wack”.

He is comfortable, resting in a room that once served the hospital as a birthing suite. He is sedated to keep the pain in check. Although, dying in Freeman was not what we anticipated it is turning out to be a 'divinely' laid plan in so many ways. As I write this his 93-year-old mother and eldest brother are sitting by his bedside. Charles said, “grandma, even though he is not responding we think he can hear you”. She said, “Its ok, I am happy to sit here, just to be near him.

We are most fortunate to have supportive communities around us in both Akron, PA and Freeman, SD. Many Freeman friends and family have come to visit and have brought food to our hosts home. Our East Coast friends have texted well wishes and prayers, picked up our mail, rescued our car from long-term parking, hacked Rick’s computer for some important documents and various other good deeds. Rick appears to enjoy short visits and occasionally responds.  We are encouraging brief visits for those who want to say farewell to him.

We will try to keep you posted as these next days pass. Rick wanted us to post for him today. Before he became somewhat unresponsive he dictated a few lines to Charles. Rather than weave them into this blog I decided to list them here. 

"I want you’s all (you’s all is an East Coast colloquialism that Rick doesn’t really care for) to know that my trip to Freeman was successful."

"It went smoothly, but down-hill after I got here. I had to make a decision about the future. I’m glad I’m in Freeman and not mid-flight in Chicago. My kidneys are in acute failure and my organs are shutting down."

"I knew the day was coming, but I didn’t expect it to be this quick."

"The train is coming to the station and it’s just about to stop. We thought maybe this trip was just another spur, but it’s actually the end of the line"