Mom's Real Obit

You can only say so much in the newspaper. This one is much better.

Surrounded by her children, Margaret Ann Snodgrass took her final breaths in her Highland home Thursday morning, June 23^rd at the young age of 67. Her last moments were spent peacefully, feeling the touch and hearing the loving words of her daughter and three sons.

Margaret was born on April 4, 1944 in Santa Rosa, CA to Gladys and Arvie Laituri. She is the third of six children and is survived by each of her siblings Gloria, Joyce, Leslie, Janie, and John.  She left home at twenty to marry Jessie J. Snodgrass Jr. on December 30, 1964 at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. Margaret and her growing family followed Jessie’s military orders to South Carolina, Taiwan, the Philippines, Virginia, Texas, and eventually settled in Southern CA in 1979. Margaret was always a fulltime mother and housewife and at times worked outside of the home. She worked fulltime as a front office clerk for Barton Elementary for 18 years, retiring in 2008. She spent her few years of retirement with family, her dog, and with the latest Alex Cross novel, by James Patterson. Margaret’s passing comes at the hands of metastasized kidney cancer.

Margaret’s most important work can be seen every day in each of her four children. She consistently made it clear that her babies were the most important people in the world and she gave her life to raising and loving these fortunate individuals. She is survived by her four children and nearly 6 grandchildren: her daughter Brenda, wife of Paul, mother of Steve; Her son Michael, husband of Karie, father of Andrew and Amanda; her son Joshua, husband of Christina, father of Gracen and Sayler; and her son Terry, husband to Susan, expecting father. Margaret spent her life teaching her family lessons of loyalty, unconditional love, and how to go overboard for Christmas and birthdays.

On Wednesday June 29^th at 1:15, Margaret will be laid to rest with her husband at Riverside National Cemetery. As per Margaret’s requests there will be a brief yet formal graveside service followed by a casual memorial service and picnic at Sylvan Park, 730 Chapel St. Redlands, at 4:00. All family, friends, and loved ones are invited to both events and will be able to share a memory, read, sing, or give a speech at the park. Margaret will supply all of the food and beverages, guests can provide memories, love, and support. 

Donations to her favorite charities, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) or the American Cancer Society may be made in her honor.

Remembering My Mom

Surrounded by her children, my mother, Margaret Snodgrass, passed away Thursday morning. All family and friends are invited to attend a formal graveside service at Riverside National Cemetery (staging area 7) on Wednesday June 29^th, at 1:15. Following the graveside service, you are also invited to a casual memorial service and picnic at Sylvan Park in Redlands CA, at 4:00 where anyone can share a reading, a poem, a song, a story, etc. Mom will supply all of the picnic fixins just as she would have wanted.

My mom and I have a very special relationship. She gave me unconditional love every day of my life and I only hope she knows I felt the same way. She was my greatest audience member and laughed at everything I said. She was the greatest listener and hung on every word. My mother taught me everything I needed to know about loving my children; I anxiously await my opportunity to show off what I’ve learned.  Thank you Mom.

This song was one of my Mom’s favorite and describes our relationship perfectly. We danced to this at my wedding.

Home Sweet Home

After nearly three months of hospitals and a nursing facility, Mom is home. She was so excited she didn’t really believe it was going to happen today. She is in her own room, with her own stuff, surrounded by her children. There are no restrictive visiting hours, roommates, or the constant beeps and sirens that accompany a hospital. There is only one nurse rather than a team, all her food will be prepared just how she likes it, and we control the A/C. After she got settled in I said “Welcome home Mom.” In between labored breaths Mom replied in a soft voice: “I am so happy.”

Picture Perfect Pregnancy

Susan and I had our first doctor's appointment of the third trimester. To quote Dr. O’Toole “You are an ideal patient having a perfect pregnancy. And your husband is very attractive.” What can I say? My wife is perfect. She has a perfect heart rate, perfect weight gain, perfect belly measurements, perfect kick count, and perfect husband. Susan is very proud of herself, deservedly so.

I believe we are due for a belly photo huh? Next time I see my wife I will take one and post it.

Hiccups Are Awesome!

 This was the third round of hiccups for Susan, but I was able to see and feel them for the first time this morning. It was awesome! Susan’ belly was doing the cutest little bounce every few seconds. I was driving at the time but I kept my hand on the belly. When I had to shift, Susan’s hand would take my place on the belly, then my hand would be right back on the belly. We were a smooth transitioning machine to soak-up all of the hiccup excitement possible.

Seven is a party animal. She kicks and punches and rolls like you wouldn’t believe. It must be so much fun in there.

Third Trimester

As of Tuesday of this week, Susan and Fetus have made it to the third trimester (And the crowd goes wild!). The “Glory Days” of pregnancy are over. From what we understand, Susan should now experience unrelenting torture for the next three months. Feet swelling, back ache, constant potty breaks, and a husband who still leaves socks every where will surely do her in over the summer. For me, I only expect the discomfort of a huge pain in the neck, but that should go away someday. I’m just kidding of course. Susan, can I get you anything my love? Water? Ice Cream? A delivery room?

Terrence Junior Female has a lot going on now. She can even handle the outside world if she had too, but she’ll probably hang out another few months just for funzies. Everything essential should be working pretty well by now. She can swallow and blink and hear and has more taste buds now than she’ll have for the rest of her life! She can hear our voices and may even be able to recognize them. Just the other day I told her to give her mother a kick and she Van Damned her mother in belly button. One cool trick we read about but have yet to try is to shine a flashlight right on the belly and see if she’ll kick it away. Sounds mean, but that is the kind of dad I am.

Here is a pretty cool video to see what she has in store for herself the rest of her prenatal time. Come September do we call it post-natal?

 

Burn the Floor

For Susan’s Pre-Natal Mother’s Day, I bought her tickets for a hot new ballroom dance show called Burn the Floor. It was just awesome. We thoroughly enjoyed the entire show. The dances were amazing, they had Swing, Waltz, Rumba, Quick Step, Salsa, and so much more. The music was very impressive. As much as Susan and I loved it, Baby Snods may have loved it the most. She was dancing up a storm to the beats. Susan’s belly was a rockin’ and I kept knockin’! Although Susan and I aren’t some great dancers, dance has always been important to us. The first thing we did together at Woody’s was dance. After our first date I had to watch So You Think You Can Dance so I would have something to talk to her about on date number 2 and SYTYCD became one of our favorite shows. One of the best parts of our amazing wedding was our choreographed first dance (see video below if you haven’t seen it before or it has just been too long since you last saw its glory). Now my favorite part of so many evenings is our after dinner and dishes dance in the kitchen with the dogs at our feet. What can I say, Claire and Cliff Huxtable are my relationship idles. Soon to come will be a Dance themed nursery for our baby girl. Anyway, Burn the Floor was awesome. 

We still love to watch and show this dance

I always loved when Claire and Cliff would dance at the end of an episode. This isn't exactly it, but this is a classic clip. What an awesome family show.

Intermission at Burn the Floor. Susan's jazz hands and my jitterbug finger!

Mi Familia! We picked up the dogs from the baby sitter after the show and the pups were happy to share Susan's lap.