Aunty LuLu is staying at The Hotel Careyfornia! She’s enjoying the 5 star accommodations and partaking in our VIP program! My Dad arrives Saturday for a week, which I know she will enjoy. Tomorrow 20 of our family members are getting together for a big dinner. Should be fun!
Today I took her to out for lunch in Beverly Hills. As we were leaving, Nick Carter and A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys walked by. I said, “Aunty, those are the Backstreet Boys.”. Her reply: “Oh I love them…but aren’t there 4??” LOL
Incidentally, here’s the funniest thing I’ve heard so far regarding the moose murderer’s Machiavellian maniacal memoir, “Going Rogue“:
And so the imbecility continues. You’re no rogue Sarah, you’re just a …mindless woman with a pretty face and a vapid gaping gash. Go away! (Don’t read if you’re easily offended by juvenile sexist comments!)
Five years ago this very second I was in the hospital in Mission Viejo filming the first video below of a crying baby boy who would come to call me “Ca-wee”. Five years later, little Andy is the light of all of our lives. In ten years I’m going to show him the second video and wonder if he still has his soap and ketchup bottle collection? Let’s hope so! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY!! xoxo
Andy, minutes after birth and 5 years later “eating wind”!
For his birthday, Lisa hired “The Lizard Wizard” and Andy’s dream of holding an alligator came true. He even liked the tarantula and the cockroach (unlike some of the kids…and adults)! What a brave little boy!
Happy Birthday Andy Bear!
Even Mommy got in on the action!
A princess and three handsome princes??
Direct from Madagascar came this cockroach!
The expressions on this little boy’s face were priceless!
In August, less than 2 months before he died, my Uncle George visited his hometown of Iron Mountain, Michigan and went fishing with his brother. To say my uncle loved to fish was an understatement. I think the only thing he loved more, was his wife, his grandkids and his brother! Despite a cold rain that day, my 81 year old uncle and his brother hiked more than 100 yards through the woods, carrying a heavy canoe to a secret fishing hole. They had quite an adventure that day, and his brother wrote a story about it that was published in the local paper:
IRON MOUNTAIN – It was tough, but the end reward was worth it all.
Let’s just say our fishing trip seemed doomed from the start. It was a bright shining day when I picked up my brother George. Then things started to go a little bad.
While in the truck, we noted we both forgot sunglasses – number one mistake. We picked up the canoe at the camp and drove a few miles to a lake in the Republic area.
Then, two senior citizens still had to carry the canoe 100 yards through the woods to the lake. Got to the lake, ready to launch the canoe. We soon discovered that the paddles, life jackets, and fishing poles were back at camp.
Back to camp we go and we were back to square one.
Once again, back at the lake, ready to go. Then the minnow bucket tipped – minnows all over the ground. Hand-picked them up (a few even lived); now we are on our way.
While pushing the canoe out, we sank in mud up to our knees. Two seniors stuck in mud. But we got out and soon were floating across the lake. We paddled quite a ways and got set to put a dead minnow on the hook.
One hour into fishing and not a bite. We figured it was the minnows’ fault. We would not give up just yet.
Brother George decided to have a sandwich, took a couple bites and it fell out of his hand into the bottom of a slightly wet canoe. It seems things were getting worse.
But then the perch started biting.
In five minutes we had three 12-inch perch on the stringer.
Somehow, stinger and all fell out of hand overboard. All perch were gone.
Now for sure he was ready to call it quits. I talked him into staying because the fish were starting to bite.
Bottom line, 30 jumbo perch (10 to 13 inches) in a couple hours of fishing. We were happy and finally did call it quits for the day.
Getting the canoe back out of the woods to the truck was harder than getting in. Somehow that canoe got at least 100 pounds heavier.
I should mention on the way out I lost my pocket knife and Brother got poked in the eye with a tree branch and we crushed the minnow bucket.
We were glad to get back to camp in one piece.
But the doomed trip turned out to be a great success. We will both remember it for a long time and George now has a fishing story to tell when he gets back to California.
I’m sure it was the highlight of his vacation.
I’m staying with my aunt this week, and obviously there are reminders of Uncle George everywhere. I smell his cologne in the bathroom when I shower. I’m sleeping on his pillow, which I find comforting. Tomorrow, friends and family will gather to celebrate his memory. We’ve been trying to keep this week as normal as possible for the kids. Last night we made caramel apples which they loved:
Tressa, Andy, Dar & Tommy
Great Grandma (Aunty LuLu) with kids
Andy likes taffy apples!
Oh Brother let’s go down…down to the lake and fish
And finally, I couldn’t let today pass without acknowledging a birthday. Chazz turned 1 year old today!! In that year, I’ve taken over 700 photos of him:
Update: Despite yesterday’s incredible news, which I still encourage everyone to read below, my beloved Uncle George passed away peacefully this morning, with none of the extraordinary, damaging measures that he had to endure for the past week. I fully believe that is the way he wanted it. He made the most of his last night with us, and it rivaled the best of our family parties…and we throw good parties! Had he survived, his quality of life would have changed drastically and he wouldn’t have liked that. He fought until the end and surrendered on his own terms, enjoying time with his family. I’m so glad that I began making videos of his stories lately. He was the best story teller I ever knew, and I will always look back at these videos fondly and remember a life well lived. As I left the hospital last night to take my aunt home, I told him I loved him and he grabbed my hand and said “I love you too Care.”
Click Play, Above Right. “Now don’t forget, this is going on Internet.” “That’s all right!”
Uncle George remembered so much about his life and loved to share his memories. When I told him that I wanted to start recording him on video, he laughed, but I think he really liked the idea. The first story told in the above video is actually pretty funny. It involves a drunken train conductor and some young girls hitting on my uncle (who was even a stud back then) when he worked in a hotel after coming home from the war. The second story involves my aunt scouting for Nazi & Japanese war planes in Iron Mountain, Michigan (of all places) during WWII when she was in high school. The third story is a retelling of a joke they used to play on their (less favorite) nephew.
What a roller coaster of a day…from the time I took my aunt home on Sunday night and Lisa stayed the night with him wiping tears from his face, to when he extubated himself and started talking, saying it was the happiest day of his life, to twelve hours later when he died.
I posted the following blog at 2 AM this morning, a few hours before my uncle passed away:
Regular readers of this space know of my fondness for my Uncle George. You’ve watched him celebrate his 79th, 80th and 81st birthdays with me; laughed at the stories he told on his 60th wedding anniversary to his 82 year old “cougar” of a wife, my “Aunty LuLu“; and listened as he regaled me with stories of the “old days” that always ended with a hearty laugh. At 81, he’s far more fit than I am. In fact, he still works as an usher at the Angel’s baseball stadium, a job he loves. My aunt and uncle spent several weeks in Michigan over the summer while I was in Italy, and while there my uncle contracted a mild case of pneumonia. When they came back, he had lost a little weight, but since he’s strong as an ox, he didn’t let it affect him much and he continued to work around the house and go to his job at the ball park.
When I went to their house for my regular spaghetti dinner a week ago Thursday, he said he was feeling much better and even gave me an inhaler for my asthma that had been prescribed to him for his pneumonia, which he said he no longer needed. We all laughed and remarked that it was pretty sad that I was sharing medicine with my 81 year old uncle, because HE didn’t need it and I did! I didn’t take a photo that evening (like I usually do), as I remember thinking he still looked a little thin.
Fast forward to last Tuesday. My uncle was working the Angel’s game, but asked his boss if he could leave early in the 7th inning. As he went to leave, he collapsed and fell backwards hitting his head. As it turns out, there was a nurse waking by in the stadium. She immediately began giving my uncle CPR until the paramedics arrived. They determined he had gone into cardiac arrest due to a fatal arrhythmia, and shocked him back to life with a defibrillator. He was taken by ambulance to University of California, Irvine Medical Center where he went into cardiac arrest a second time and was paddled again.
Sunset from the hospital window
When I arrived at the hospital Wednesday, on my way to San Diego for a business trip, things didn’t look good. He was hooked up to a ventilator that was breathing for him, and his blood pressure was dangerously low. An angiogram revealed that a bypass he had more than 20 years ago was nearly completely blocked, and his heart was only pumping at about 15% capacity. Though there’s not much they can do about the heart problems at his age, they were hoping to wean him off the medicine so he could breathe on his own. And the waiting began. We all tried to keep a positive attitude and make the best out of a bad situation by laughing and letting him hear us laugh.
I was even able to get quite a bit of work done Friday afternoon
Back on the chain gang
The kids never went in, but they were a welcome distraction!
By Friday we all had to wear scrubs while visiting due to the possibility of infection. Also, he was beginning to develop pneumonia again. I stayed with my aunt, and as each day wore on, my uncle looked sadder and sadder. Because he was intubated (had a tube down his throat breathing for him), he couldn’t speak. Things culminated this morning as his medicine wore off and it became increasingly clear that he did not want to be there. It finally got so bad, that the doctor asked the family leave for two hours, and that’s when something remarkable happened…
Auntie holding Uncle’s hand…
When everyone was out of the room and the doctors thought he was sufficiently restrained and sedated, my uncle proceeded to pull the tube all the way out of his throat! Alarms sounded and the family was called back to the hospital. I had actually taken Tommy & Andy to see the movie “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs“, and by the time I arrived back at the hospital, my uncle was sitting up in bed, talking and breathing on his own with no IV or additional medicine! This is one really strong man! His first words to me were, “Now that you’re back, we can start the party!” I pulled out the inhaler he had given me the week before and he laughed! Obviously his heart is still very sick and my aunt understands that; but it was so nice, after a week of interminable waiting and hoping, that we were able to talk to him and laugh with him tonight. He’s still sharp as a tack, and as we left he was trying to get out of bed to close the blinds (a definite no no!). We’re taking it one day at a time from here, but I think my aunt will be able to sleep well tonight!
Earlier today while he was still intubated
Enjoying a little 3D normalcy with the boys
We called him “Doctor Doom & Gloom” but the comments on Facebook are trending in his favor (in the looks department at least)! He had nothing on my uncle though:
Move over Doc…you could have never competed with this!
Laughing, smiling and breathing again! After a stressful week filled with a literal Nurse Ratched, lots of Diet Coke, gallons of hand sanitizer and more than a few tears, a family gathers around its patriarch.
One of my favorite photos of me and my uncle, taken on his 80th birthday last year
I had a bunch of meetings in Orange County this morning, and I was running late. I didn’t get out of the house until 10 AM, hoping against all odds I could drive 60 miles in 60 minutes (a ridiculous goal in Los Angeles on the best of days). Sure enough there was a major accident down by Disneyland. The highway was covered in peaches and grapes. A produce truck had crashed with a car. It was a nasty accident, and I was stuck in traffic for an extra hour.
After a long day of meetings I hoped to turn the day’s tide by heading to Aunty LuLu & Uncle Georgie’s house for spaghetti. They’ve been in Michigan since I left for Italy, and they just got home. I’ve been missing that Thursday spaghetti for 2 months now! Dar joined us for dessert, and I began the long drive home at 9:30 tonight. As I walked up the stairs in the hallway outside my condo, I realized that the carpet outside of my unit was squishing. Never a good sign! As I walked in the beautiful lobby of the Hotel Careyfornia and headed towards the kitchen, this is what I saw:
I’m not sure if you can see from the photos, but the hardwood floors were soaked. I don’t know if it came from an upstairs neighbor or what. It sucks! The water is filled with shredded lettuce and who knows what else. I’ve not had good luck with produce today. Needless to say, it’s now 2:30 AM and I’m waiting for a call back from a 24 hour plumber. This isn’t great timing, as I’m leaving Saturday for a week. When it rains it pours.
One bright note…Andy finally lost his toenail! And guess who visited him? LOL. I got this text from Lisa the other night:
The year was 1949. World War II had been over for four years and America was entering the baby boom. McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare were in full swing, and “Riders in the Sky” was the #1 song in the country. On June 11th of that year, a pretty, doe eyed girl from Iron Mountain, Michigan named Lucille; married a dashing, brown eyed sailor named George. 60 years later my Aunty Lulu and Uncle Georgie still remember more about that unseasonably hot June day, than I remember about last night! They even recall (and recount below, much to my shock), some of the more sordid details (at about 4:15)! I love it when my relatives regale me with stories, and tonight, in honor of their 60th wedding anniversary we had dinner at their favorite Mexican restaurant and they reminisced about the “good old days”.
Their love story actually spans more than 60 years. They met in junior high school when they were about 11 years old and they’re 81 and 82 now. The early years of the romance consisted of country drives in Model A Fords (back when American car companies were profitable), and countless letters sent overseas when my uncle sailed for the Navy. Through mistaken love notes and broken beds, they raised 3 kids, who went on to have 8 kids of their own, who went on to have 4 kids of their own (Tommy, Andy, Cole & Tressa; my aunt and uncle’s great grandchildren, who are regularly featured here). So Happy Anniversary Aunty & Uncle. I hope to be listening to many more stories for years to come!
Click Play, Above Right. “Now don’t forget, this is going on Internet.” “That’s all right!” My aunt called today to correct a detail about the movie they saw on their wedding night. It was “In a Lonely Place” starring Humphrey Bogart. The ticket was 50 cents. How did she know? She found the ticket stub in her scrapbook!
June 11, 2009 – Lu & George’s 60th Wedding Anniversary
Current: Light Snow Wind: NE at 6 mph Humidity: 62%
Mon 16°F
It was 84° F (29° C) here today which is a far cry from the weather back home in the Midwest. My Dad is on his way to Michigan via Chicago, weather permitting, to attend a funeral. Sadly, 2 days ago his twin sister’s boyfriend Ted was plowing several neighbor’s driveways out from a huge winter storm and dropped dead of a heart attack. Ted was a very kind man and treated my aunt so nicely. He worked for the Pepsi company for most of his life. They called him Pepsi Ted. He died doing what he did best, helping other people. He will be missed. Here’s a photo of him from 4 years ago when he visited me in Hollywood. He had never been out of Michigan, and they came the day before the Oscars. We walked the red carpet and they even got to see some celebrities. (Joan Rivers was one of them if I remember correctly, LOL.)
In Memoriam
When Dad gets to the Iron Mountain, he’ll have this to contend with. This is the front of Steve & MaryLou’s house today!!
Our weather on the other hand was so beautiful that Andy and I took a “nature hike”. Here’s a photo Lisa took of us “on the trail” from up above at the house:
Tony (generasianx) was nice enough to invite Albert (owbert) and me to a showing of “The Secret Life of Bees” on Sunday night. After the movie, there was a panel discussion with the director, Gina Prince Bythewood, and one of the stars of the movie, Dakota Fanning. (They were also joined by Dr. Barbara Rico, an English professor from Loyola Marymount who discussed some of the central literary & multicultural themes in the movie.) Dakota Fanning, who’s not even 15 yet, blew us all away. She is a remarkably poised young woman, seemingly unaffected by the spotlight and the falseness that permeates this town. Her performance in the movie was riveting. She kept pace with her fellow actresses Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson. Quite frankly, I’m surprised the movie didn’t get more buzz (pun intended). Roger Ebert writes:
There is such a thing as feeling superior to your emotions, but I trust mine. If I sense the beginnings of a teardrop in my eye during a movie, that is evidence more tangible than all the mighty weight of Film Theory. “The immediate experience,” one of the wisest of critics called it. That’s what you have to acknowledge. I watched the movie, abandoned history and plausibility, and just plain fell for it. If it had been a bad movie, it would have been ripe for vivisection. But it is not a bad movie.
I have some video of the panel discussion if anyone’s interested, I’ll post it on YouTube. If you haven’t seen this movie, it’s worth watching. If you don’t like it, I’ll pay you double.
BFF’s!, Carey & Dakota. She reminds me a lot of Jodie Foster
A year ago today, I wrote “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” after seeing all of Lisa’s Christmas decorations (Jin, you need to do the right thing…return the snowman…no questions asked), and then visiting my Aunt and Uncle for dinner. Well, exactly a year has passed. They’re both in their 80′s and look the same. I wonder what their secret is??
2007 2008
One of the reasons I love going there so much is the stories. They remember so much of their lives and love to regale me with stories from the old days. I told them that I should start recording their stories on video and they laughed, but I still took a few videos with my camera. While this may not mean much to anyone outside my family and it may not be the next viral video on YouTube, I find it endearing. The first story is actually pretty funny. It involves a drunk train conductor and some young girls hitting on my uncle (who was even a stud back then) when he worked in a hotel after coming home from the war. The second story involves my aunt scouting for Nazi & Japanese war planes in Iron Mountain, Michigan (of all places) during WWII when she was in high school. The third story is a retelling of a joke they used to play on their (less favorite) nephew. Since today is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor (“A date that will live in infamy“), I thought it appropriate to post some “war stories” from those days. Enjoy!
Oh, and check out my self portrait of the sunset, while driving past the Irvine Spectrum to my Aunt & Uncle’s house! (And this one in October.) At least I was going the speed limit!
Last night we went to see Slumdog Millionaire at the Arclight. We were sitting behind Ron Howard (Opie), and the theater was packed. I like seeing movies at the Arclight (despite the $15 ticket price), because it caters to an industry crowd that really appreciates good film making. When the movie was over it got a standing ovation, and then someone suggested a minute of silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks in India. Since the movie was set in Mumbai, it was an appropriate gesture and quite touching. This was honestly the best movie I’ve seen all year. (We’re going to see “Milk” tomorrow though, which also got a 93 on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ve heard excellent things about it too, and it’s obviously another timely topic in light of what’s going on with Prop. 8.) Seriously though, go see Slumdog Millionaire. If you don’t like it, I will pay you double!! Honest The world needs a movie like this right now. It’s amazing.
I hope all you statesiders had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures from feast. I’m going to slip into a turkey coma now. Good night!
(Don’t read if you’re easily offended by juvenile sexist comments!)
the camp and drove a few miles to a lake in the Republic area.
Now for sure he was ready to call it quits. I talked him into staying because the fish were starting to bite.
The world needs a movie like this right now. It’s amazing. 
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