deja vu all over again

When my brother called us on Sunday (something he never ever ever does) it was deja vu all over again for me. I was a little confused for a second or two when he let loose with the news that Dad had had a heart attack. My first thought was of my Dad and then my brain translated for me that Barry, my Step Dad was who he was talking about.

My step Dad has been around for almost 1/2 of my life and I couldn't have asked for a better second Dad. He's rough and gruff and he's treated my sister and me as if we were his family from the start all the while being careful not to try and take my Dad's place. Hearing that he'd been struck down like that was a blow. Not being near enough to know what was going on first hand was really hard.

I've mentioned before that my Dad passed on when he was 36. He had his first heart attack when I was pretty young and heart problems followed him the rest of his life. He had a fairly rare condition that caused his body to produce obscene amounts of cholesteral which would collect in his arteries; which was the cause of death in the end, all of his arteries slowly filled up.

Barry comes home today. With a list of things that need to be changed in his lifestyle and a small handful of pills that need to be taken for a little while and a smaller handful that will be needed for the rest of his life, he's been cleaned out (only the main artery going into his heart was blocked, the surgeons went to work and shunted, ballooned and scraped it out; the rest were all clear and any damage to his heart is at bare minimum) and needs to take a month off of work. It's a hell of a way to add more R&R to his schedule. We are just glad and breathing deep sighs of relief that he's recovering well.

And this, among other things is why my posts this week are a little sparse. I'm hoping to be back on track with my regular posting schedule by next week, in the meantime there is still time to enter my Etsy Anniversary Giveaway. I promise it's a fabulous prize; tell your friends and let me know you did.