bigred76
04-19-2008, 11:35 PM
Been a horrible, horrible day. Cheri's mom got home last night at about 2am (I was up still trying to fix a modem issue, we were expecting her back on Saturday from her vacation). First words out of her mouth were "it's bad, Tim, it's bad...." That barely begins to describe it.
Cheri's aunt, Debbie, died of a recreational (illegal) drug overdose sometime on Friday afternoon. We had to wake Cheri up to tell her, and I only got about three or four hours worth of sleep, and had to get up for a job orientation the next day (yesterday now, Saturday).
Full story came out then that Debbie had gone on another drug binge (she has been a habitual drug abuser since High School, and she was nearly 40), and had gone to a baseball game that was not going on on Wednesday (this is all in San Mateo, by the way, where the majority of Cheri's family lives). She called her cousin Ralphie to come pick her up, as she usually did when she was drunk. Ralphie assumed that this was the case, and picked her up from the baseball field and took her to his house for some coffee and they talked for a couple hours.
Ralphie then took Debbie home to her parents (Cheri's grandparents) house where she was staying while they were away due to a plumbing issue at her house. Ralphie tucked her in for the night and made sure she was good, then went home. The next day, Thursday, Debbie did not show up to work. Cheri's great grandma, Grandma Bre, owns the tow truck company that most of the family works at (the exception being Cheri and her mom). When Debbie did not come to work or answer phone calls, they assumed that she was hung over or the like as is sometimes the norm for her. When she did not show up the next day, as she normally does, Grandma Bre flipped out and called Mike, Debbie's brother who takes care of the other trucking company (they own two), to check on Debbie.
Mike drove to his parent's house and sure enough, Debbie's car was outside. He went into the house, calling her name, and when he found her dead, he called 911. The family that was in the area was called and convened at Mike's house. Cheri's other aunt, Bobbie Jean, drove down from Windsor (about 2hrs North of San Mateo) as fast as she could get her son out of the house and over to her friends across the street while she came down. The family that had congregated decided it was best that Cindy, Cheri's mom, know in person, so they sent a couple people up 4hrs away to Grass Valley (at about 4pm) where she was spending time with her other grandmother, Grandma Betty. Cindy packed her bags and was driven back down while one person stayed behind (I forget who the pair they sent was, some cousins) to watch over Grandma Betty and make sure she was alright. After the 4hr drive back down (now it was about 12pm), she found out the whole story, then drove the hour back down to San Jose, when I learned of it.
Today, we drove to San Mateo for Cheri's Aunt Cheryl's birthday party that was still going to occur. The entire family is either extremely pissed off that Debbie was as stupid that she was (this was the kind of thing that they were just waiting to get the phone call for), or extremely emotional and crying. Cheri is one of the latter, and I have been trying to console her ever since yesterday morning when we had to wake her up to tell her. I personally deal with death differently, and some would even call it "well." I'm not emotionally choked up about it. Debbie was a wonderful woman, and I enjoyed her company. I would even go to the point that I loved her, as a family loves one another. I will miss her dearly, but there is nothing I can do at this point, much like when King David's first son by Bathsheba was killed by God.
Cheri's grandparents were on a cruise, and told over the phone. They could not convince the cruise line to let them leave early off the ship via helicopter, so they are waiting until Monday when they are leaving their bags (being shipped to them later on) at the ship so they do not have to deal with Customs as they would with bags because they went to a foreign country -- Mexico. The situation has pretty much stabilized out until then, I think, but the going's going to be rough for the next week. When Cheri's grandparents make it in, I'm assuming that hell will break loose again, but I can only hope that it wont.
Why am I posting? Cheri's family needs prayer. I need prayer. Badly. I'm sore, tired, and sick, and Cheri has left an almost permanent wet spot on my shoulder the entire day. I greatly appreciate any prayers sent our way, and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I have to get up in the morning early to head off to San Mateo again to check on the family in a non-party setting, so I have to try to get some sleep now. If I'm on AIM sometime this week, you can talk to me there, but I'm not going to be on the forums much.
Thank you again for your prayers and thoughts,
-Tim
Cheri's aunt, Debbie, died of a recreational (illegal) drug overdose sometime on Friday afternoon. We had to wake Cheri up to tell her, and I only got about three or four hours worth of sleep, and had to get up for a job orientation the next day (yesterday now, Saturday).
Full story came out then that Debbie had gone on another drug binge (she has been a habitual drug abuser since High School, and she was nearly 40), and had gone to a baseball game that was not going on on Wednesday (this is all in San Mateo, by the way, where the majority of Cheri's family lives). She called her cousin Ralphie to come pick her up, as she usually did when she was drunk. Ralphie assumed that this was the case, and picked her up from the baseball field and took her to his house for some coffee and they talked for a couple hours.
Ralphie then took Debbie home to her parents (Cheri's grandparents) house where she was staying while they were away due to a plumbing issue at her house. Ralphie tucked her in for the night and made sure she was good, then went home. The next day, Thursday, Debbie did not show up to work. Cheri's great grandma, Grandma Bre, owns the tow truck company that most of the family works at (the exception being Cheri and her mom). When Debbie did not come to work or answer phone calls, they assumed that she was hung over or the like as is sometimes the norm for her. When she did not show up the next day, as she normally does, Grandma Bre flipped out and called Mike, Debbie's brother who takes care of the other trucking company (they own two), to check on Debbie.
Mike drove to his parent's house and sure enough, Debbie's car was outside. He went into the house, calling her name, and when he found her dead, he called 911. The family that was in the area was called and convened at Mike's house. Cheri's other aunt, Bobbie Jean, drove down from Windsor (about 2hrs North of San Mateo) as fast as she could get her son out of the house and over to her friends across the street while she came down. The family that had congregated decided it was best that Cindy, Cheri's mom, know in person, so they sent a couple people up 4hrs away to Grass Valley (at about 4pm) where she was spending time with her other grandmother, Grandma Betty. Cindy packed her bags and was driven back down while one person stayed behind (I forget who the pair they sent was, some cousins) to watch over Grandma Betty and make sure she was alright. After the 4hr drive back down (now it was about 12pm), she found out the whole story, then drove the hour back down to San Jose, when I learned of it.
Today, we drove to San Mateo for Cheri's Aunt Cheryl's birthday party that was still going to occur. The entire family is either extremely pissed off that Debbie was as stupid that she was (this was the kind of thing that they were just waiting to get the phone call for), or extremely emotional and crying. Cheri is one of the latter, and I have been trying to console her ever since yesterday morning when we had to wake her up to tell her. I personally deal with death differently, and some would even call it "well." I'm not emotionally choked up about it. Debbie was a wonderful woman, and I enjoyed her company. I would even go to the point that I loved her, as a family loves one another. I will miss her dearly, but there is nothing I can do at this point, much like when King David's first son by Bathsheba was killed by God.
Cheri's grandparents were on a cruise, and told over the phone. They could not convince the cruise line to let them leave early off the ship via helicopter, so they are waiting until Monday when they are leaving their bags (being shipped to them later on) at the ship so they do not have to deal with Customs as they would with bags because they went to a foreign country -- Mexico. The situation has pretty much stabilized out until then, I think, but the going's going to be rough for the next week. When Cheri's grandparents make it in, I'm assuming that hell will break loose again, but I can only hope that it wont.
Why am I posting? Cheri's family needs prayer. I need prayer. Badly. I'm sore, tired, and sick, and Cheri has left an almost permanent wet spot on my shoulder the entire day. I greatly appreciate any prayers sent our way, and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I have to get up in the morning early to head off to San Mateo again to check on the family in a non-party setting, so I have to try to get some sleep now. If I'm on AIM sometime this week, you can talk to me there, but I'm not going to be on the forums much.
Thank you again for your prayers and thoughts,
-Tim