OWH Memorial Undead Topic

Everybody is different. I had been working to earn money since the 6th grade. I had been financially on my own since 18. I was ready. The key is being honest with yourself.

I have been retired for over 10 years. I had no major issues (other than physically getting old). No anxiety. No guilt. No FOMO. No degradation of self worth. Etc.

It took me about 3ish months to understand that I did not have to get up early in a.m. I started waking up after sleeping 8 hours, whether I went to bed early or late. I realized that when I did the "chores" was not predicated on my external "job" schedule, but me (or tbh, in some cases my wife).

My only tidbit of information to pass on is that getting old physically is really a thing. No matter how physically fit or active you think you are. That is the thing that has been my biggest adjustment. The joy of really having the unencumbered time to spend with loved ones is priceless and should not be overlooked or underestimated.

 

My dad just retired. Now he was off from end of September when my grandmother got sick, but he's one week in and he's struggling. Said he feels like he doesn't have purpose, etc. And said no matter how much we tell him that he's retired to just sit around or do his hobbies, that he can't shake that feeling.

 

I basically sold my business interests when I was 47 and decided I would do things I had never had a chance to do and than decide what was next. After I had taken one trip, I was asked by my FIL if I would help him with his business. I did not plan to help him for long but ended up staying until I was 52.

I never had any trouble with it because I worked through college and afterwards worked 80-100 hours per week.

I moved to Florida at that time because I wanted the weather to fish, play golf, work around the yard, and to ride a bike. Never missed the work and have no regrets.

 

I'll die about 15 days after I retire, that's just my luck

 

The people that do are the ones that go sit in a recliner in front of a tv. Some how I don't believe you will ever do that because you have too many hunts to take care of.

 

So at a funeral today we learned my uncle that can no longer drive by doctors orders and fell off a ladder 2 weeks ago has decided to go and buy a UTV so he can at least drive to the gas station.

My mom, his sister, looks him square in the eyes and says “so I guess your funeral is the next one then”.

 

My lawn tractor is my fallback plan. It has headlights and brakes. I'll go old school with the hand signals for left, right and stop.

 

SNL Bevis and Butthead might be the best thing they’ve done in ages.

 

When she turned around and saw Butthead it was hilarious because she must have never seen his costume before the live event. Same with Beavis.

How those extras in the background didn't break is impressive. Same with Kenan Thompson.

 

Pretty easy 4-15 other than being contacted by an idiot who couldn’t find his W2 and had to file a last minute extension.

Seriously.

 

Biden out here trying to take over Hamilton County

 

New tires are expensive these days, but OHHHH the joy of the soft quiet ride of new tires that are not worn out.

 

I have lost sporting events, talent shows, and many other things and none of it hurts as much as when your kids hurt when they lose.

 

Long post incoming that no one probably gives a shit about, but I want to get off my chest. Given some circumstances surrounding this whole ordeal, this is the first time my family has been able to really talk freely about it.


Three years ago, my wife checked into the hospital to be induced with our second kid. She had some complications during pregnancy that led to them inducing about a week before the due date, but all things considered it should have been a pretty normal delivery. Long story short, due to some shit doctoring, things went off the rails during the late evening of the 19th and the doctor finally rushed my wife back for an emergency c-section late that night. It was like a scene out of a shitty medical drama on network television. Nurses were screaming, my wife was crying, the anesthesiologist was sprinting down the hallway, someone was screaming codes over the intercom, and I was following the circus down the hallway like a deer in headlights. I ended up sitting in a folding chair in the hallway outside of the operating room not knowing anything that was going on. Unbeknownst to me, they had lost my son's heartbeat, so they just put my wife completely to sleep to perform the c-section as quickly as possible. When he was delivered, he had no pulse and wasn't breathing. It took them approximately 10 minutes to revive him and the best estimate is that he was without a pulse and oxygen for a minimum of 15 minutes. They use something called APGAR to score a baby after birth. A 0 is "holy shit" and a 10 is a healthy baby. My son was a 0 at the one minute mark, 5 minute mark, and 10 minute mark. Eventually they got a faint pulse, hooked him up to a machine to breathe for him, and rushed him to NICU at Children's Hospital where he was diagnosed with severe Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE). We were told that babies with the same diagnosis as my son had a survival rate in the single digits. The doctors didn't expect him to survive the first 24-48 hours and if he did the prognosis was severe brain damage and a several month stay in NICU. As soon as he was checked into NICU, they put him on a cooling therapy that induces hypothermia in an effort to force blood into his core and head to reduce the possible impact of the damage. By lunchtime on day number 1 in the NICU, he was already off the ventilator and breathing on his own. He was responsive to everyone by the afternoon on the first day. What was supposed to be months in the NICU turned into a 10 day stay. It only lasted 10 days because they were running every test imaginable trying to make sense of what had happened in regards to his recovery. The multiple doctors and specialists that we worked with had no explanation as to how my son recovered as well as he did or as quickly as he did. In a little over a week we went from expecting him not to survive to taking home a baby that, by all appearances, was happy and healthy. He turns three a little after midnight tonight. He has some minor delays with his speech, but other than that is a happy, healthy, normal kid.


The whole experience was [uck fay]ed up. What should have been one of the best days of our lives ended up being the worst. I knew sitting in the hallway that night that something really bad was happening based off of what I was overhearing, but I didn't know if it was my wife or son. I was sitting there debating with myself about whether it would be better to go home and tell my older son that his mom didn't make it or his baby brother didn't make it. I had to look at my son hooked up to a ventilator with the "lights are on but no one's home" stare because they thought that minute or so would be the only chance we'd get to see him alive.


In conclusion, for those of you still reading this shit, life is a mother[uck fay]er and I'm not sure I'll ever get over that experience. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

Also, my wife does not think me calling my son Lazarus all the time is nearly as funny as I do.

 

Glad your son is OK. That’s a wild story.

Although an APGAR of 0 is pretty terrifying, you can be several below 10 and not be worried - just for future reference if you have another.

 

Good lord boys, Pearl Jam still has it

 

Marbles in their mouths?