Anna and Jude getting ready for an Easter Egg hunt at the Brustkern’s house.

While I was back in Sydney last week for my mum, Marcy, Jude and Anna celebrated Easter in Denver. Before I left we all went on an Easter egg hunt at a friend’s house where Jude and Anna got all dressed up with their Easter baskets.

Then on Easter morning Marcy organized our own Easter egg hunt in the backyard and both Jude and Anna scored well with a large supply of eggs.

The early morning Easter Egg hunt in our backyard.

Anna received some goodies from the Easter bunny but her favorite was definitely her new Hello Kitty two-piece swimsuit. Marcy wears a two-piece and she obviously sees all the teenagers and young women at the beach wearing them so we think it made her feel somewhat grown up. She wore it all day, and most of the week she loved it so much.

Anna with her first two piece swimsuit

And of course, one shouldn’t just wear their swimsuit for swimming.

Anna showing that you can also be strong while wearing a pretty swimsuit.

The day after Easter it was off to Iowa for Marcy, Jude and  Anna. From all accounts they had a wonderful time. Anna bonded with the twins really well on this trip and Jude got to throw the football with Grandpa which I know he loved.

The young ladies strutting their stuff

Yesterday we were all back together again. I returned from Sydney just an hour after Marcy and the kids returned from Iowa. So, we were all able to drive home from the airport together.

Today was Jude’s first flag football match of the season. He loved it despite the fact they lost the match. Given how competitive Jude has been I loved that he took the loss in stride and still had a good time. They rotate players in every position both on offense and defense. While Jude played center quite a bit, his favorite position is still running back.

Jude getting ready for his first flag football match.

Last Friday night I got the call that everyone with aging parents dreads. It was my brother to say that mum had taken a turn for the worse and that she only had days to live. So, I dropped everything and caught the next plane to Sydney. I arrived there on Monday morning and went straight to the nursing home.

Mum was not conscious but was breathing easily and in very little pain. I stayed at her bedside all day and into the night. My sister, Robyn, came late morning and joined me. I had brought Mum’s diary that she gave me years ago that recorded events from January 1, 1965 to December 31, 1969. We started reading the entries to her and we went on for hours. We laughed and cried together and it was a special time that I will always cherish.

At one point, we were holding mum’s hand and explaining that we were here for her and an amazing thing happened. Even though she was completely unconscious, a tear rolled out of her eye. That was when we knew that she knew we were here for her in her last hours.

When her breathing started to get really labored in the afternoon we called Ian and Dad and they both came to the nursing home to say goodbye. That was also a special moment when the whole family were together for the very last time.

As night fell everyone else went home and it was just me and mum. I held her hand, read to her some more and just sat with her. The nurses thought the end was near when her breathing became really labored around 8pm. But by 9pm she was completely fine and her breathing was back to normal. By 10pm I commented to the nurse that it looked like she will make it through the night because her breathing had been normal for some time. As I was completely exhausted from a draining day and the fact that I had just flown in to Sydney from Denver, I decided to call it a night and head back to Dad’s place, which is just five minutes away.

I said goodbye to mum, kissed her on the forehead, knowing full well I might not see her alive again. Little did I know that I would be right and sooner than I expected. I was just drifting off to sleep at 10:45pm when the head nurse called me to come back to the nursing home right away. I was there within 10 minutes and they gave me the news. Mum had passed away about 10 minutes before – just a minute before they called me. Her breathing had remained normal and she was peaceful and in no pain until the end.

The Funeral

This morning we laid mum to rest. It was a whirlwind 48 hours getting everything ready but because Friday is a public holiday here and I wanted to head back to Denver on Saturday, we needed to have the funeral today. It all came together beautifully.

We met with the chaplain, Sylvia Nowlan, yesterday who worked at the nursing home and got to know Mum over the last couple of years. We created a program that we felt reflected Mum’s wishes. Robyn then did a fantastic job designing and printing the programs.

The service went really well – even better than I expected. We had a great turnout with most of mum’s good friends making it as well as many friends of Ian, Robyn and myself. We had my family in the US on Skype watching and I was able to say a quick hi to everyone before the service. Dad, Ian and I all gave speeches as well as Mum’s best friend Pat Bernard.

What I appreciated about today was that this would have been exactly the kind of celebration mum would have wanted. She loved being around her friends and family and she wouldn’t have wanted a big fuss made of everything. But she would have liked a simple service with an emphasis on family and friends under the presence of God. And we gave that to her – our final gift.

It has been a difficult few days but now the funeral is over I feel that the healing can begin. I still miss her terribly whenever I think about her but I appreciate her now more than ever. She was a great mum whose fierce love and strength will continue to support me for the rest of my life.

I created a slideshow from the thousands of photos lying around Dad’s house. It took a while but it was a labor of love and I wanted there to be a special reflection on mum’s life for the service today. You can watch the video below. I love you mum.

Anna in action on the field in her first soccer game

Anna played her first organized soccer match this weekend. Watching a bunch of five year olds chasing a ball around the field was a lot of fun. They play on a small field, with small goals and no goalie in 8-minute quarters. There are a lot of goals and a lot of near misses but interestingly no one keeps score – it is all about having fun. And Anna did seem to enjoy it.

It was supposed to be Jude’s turn on Sunday for his first flag football match but the weather did not cooperate. It rained all morning and turned to snow this afternoon so all matches were canceled. So, we went to the Denver Auto Show instead. It has been a couple of years since we were there and it was interesting to see the changes in the kids.

Enjoying each other’s company in the back of a pickup truck at the Denver Auto Show

They had a blast. They loved getting in and out of all the cars especially the pickup trucks that they thought were very cool. They wanted to climb up in the back of every pickup truck they saw (which was a lot). They liked sitting in the drivers seats and playing with the dials and Anna liked to climb in the trunk and have me close it.

What I liked most of all was seeing the Tesla Model S. That is one sweet car and one day I hope to own one. I was also looking at three row SUVs – we decided we needed a larger car to help haul other kids around. There were plenty of good options here with my favorite probably being the Toyota Highlander.

Anna went to a birthday party with Marcy on Saturday so Jude and I had a little “Jude and Daddy date” which was nice – it has been a while. I asked Jude what he wanted to do, thinking he would want to play football, but he surprised me by saying he wanted to go to the park to play frisbee. We played for over an hour as we both ran all over the park.

Marcy took Jude out of school early one day this week because Jude really wanted to have some Jude and Mommy time. They went to the museum, just like old times, and Marcy snapped this photo.

Jude at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Anna getting ready for her first soccer practice

This was the first weekend ever in the Renton family that either Jude or Anna had an organized team sport. The spring season opened for both of them this weekend.

Anna was first on Saturday. She has chosen to play soccer so we signed her up for a league through the local rec center. One of her favorite things that Anna liked about playing is that you get to buy new clothes and, of course, shoes. She loved her new outfit along with her shin guards and cleats.

Anna doing drills at her first soccer practice

It was not all about the outfit, though. She did seem to enjoy herself. She paid attention during the drills and at the end when they played a match she thought that was fun. And afterwards she said she loved it and can’t wait until next time.

I started playing soccer when I was five years old and like she has practice one evening a week and then a game on Saturday – the first one starts this coming weekend.

Jude throwing the ball during a drill on his first day of flag football

Next up was Jude. After really getting into the NFL this past season he decided that football was going to be his game. Today, his season began in the Broncos Flag Football league. I have volunteered to be an assistant coach on Jude’s team and that proved to be a lot of fun.

Jude playing quarterback during his first flag football practice

They are a good group of kids with varying abilities. But the emphasis in this league is on fun and inclusion. Everyone gets to play every position and it is not super competitive. Jude was obviously enjoying it, he liked running the ball more than throwing it, and he is looking forward to practicing in the back yard this week.

Tomorrow is Anna’s half birthday – she turns five and a half. But we celebrated it today because she really wanted to have donuts and that is not as easy to do on a school day. But this morning right after breakfast we all headed to a local donut shop. There we all sang Anna happy birthday and she blew out the five and a half candles on her donut. She was very happy.

Anna celebrating her five and a half birthday.