January 20, 2012 - The Day Tragedy Struck

The Day Tragedy Struck

The morning of January 20, 2012, I hit snooze a few times and decided to skip my workout. This is the first time that skipping a workout was ever a good idea. Mike and I got a phone call from Dean (his Dad) 10 minutes after I was supposed to be at the gym. I will not go into too many personal details, but it was the phone call where we found out that Diva, my mother in law, had passed away that morning. 

Mike and I spent a bit freaking out, being upset and what not, and immediately decided we were going to Houston immediately. We packed up our stuff, our dogs, sent out emails to our employers and were on our way. We knew we needed to be with Dean, be with family, as soon as possible. 

For whatever reason we were unable to get a hold of Michael's brother. We kept trying to call him along the drive to Houston, a 3.5 hour drive. We had no idea what his address was (he lives in Houston though) so we couldn't just go to his house to tell him in person. 

We ended up stopping at a donut shop so Mike could make a call to him before we got to his parents house. I picked up some kolaches and donuts while he made the phone call in case the family and friends needed some food. Still no answer. 

We met up with Dean and tried to comfort him as much as possible. Then we decided that we needed to get to Steven as fast as possible. It was already 12pm and he needed to know. We got his address from Dean and drove 40 minutes back to his place. After knocking on his door a few times he got up and we told him. My heart was breaking for everyone. Into a million pieces. All of this was utterly soul crushing.

After, we ended up getting the strength to go back to Dean's. We spent the day making funeral arrangements and helping Dean call friends and family. It was the hardest day of my life, and I am sure it will always be the hardest day in Michael's life.

Eventually we decided we needed to eat dinner. A neighbor brought over a casserole, but of course it had chicken in it. That is the main ingredient in most casseroles. I took advantage of this, and called my mom and talked to her on my way to get a subway sandwich.

We spent the rest of the evening spending time together, but mostly remained in silence and tears.