What's up with that, St. Peregrine??

Sadness today....cancer claimed another great person yesterday morning.  How do I explain this family connection?  George is the husband to my mom's first cousin Carol.  Their mothers were sisters. Carol, George and their daughters Jeannie and Jill have always had a presence in our lives.  George passed away early this morning after battling a brain tumor for most of 2010.  Funny, caring always ready to throw a smile in your direction, I used to love when Carol and George would make their quick blitz runs home to the north from Texas, and we'd get to spend a few semi-rushed hours chatting and catching up with them.  They came north for both happy and sad occasions, and it was great to have them at my wedding and at both my parents' funerals.  I know the past months have been really hard on their family, but update emails said George kept a positive outlook despite a grim outlook.

Here's one of my favorite George stories:  after my dad passed away in 1999, mom decided that we needed to get away for a few days, so we flew down to Houston.  Sis and I had never been to Texas, so it was a new adventure and a distraction from dad's death and funeral.  We flew Southwest and had a bazillion stops, so I was a little zonked by the time we reached our final destination.  We were all set to drive off in our rental car, and for some reason mom didn't like it and wanted to change it.  We swapped cars and made the 45 minute trip to Carol and George's house on the other side of Houston.   Once we got there and settled in, I realized that I had left a bag in the first rental car.  And, in the bag was another bag, full of pictures of my dad.  I don't know why I brought them with me, but I did.  I was heartbroken and so pissed at myself for being so stupid, leaving something so important in the car.  George very calmly grabbed his keys and told me he'd drive me back to the airport to get the bag.  So he did.  And the bag was still there, with the pictures inside.  Did I mention that we also hit rush hour traffic, so the trip took way more than 90 minutes round trip?  He kept telling me it was no big deal and to not get upset.  I felt awful that I had eaten up so much time in the quest to get the bag, because we were only there for a couple of days, and George kept reassuring me that it was no big deal as long as I got the pictures back.

I also remember the last trip that I saw Carol and George when they came up to New England after mom's stroke, and we spent the afternoon eating, talking and eating some more at the Continental on route 1.  Definitely put a smile into our day.

Prayers and thoughts are in Texas, and I'm hoping in some way St. Peregrine is watching over the family.