I haven't been posting because Mom has put her energy into moving all of Dad's belongings (and a lot of other things) to the carport. She then set up tables in an attempt to organize the things. She explained that people would be coming to look at Dad's old red and white car and the rolling tool chest filled with tools.

Mom and I have struggled with this next chapter of Dad’s life, not because she didn’t know his stories, but because she struggled to organize them chronologically. We decided to only state the dates that we could verify. His stories may not be in order but we did want to share as many of them as possible. He enlisted in the Navy in March, 1963 and was discharged in February, 1967.

This post will be about my dad’s life. I can’t really call it a typical obituary, but then I’m not a typical cat. Harry Harold Gimble, Jr. was born in April, 1942 in Delaware. While he was still a toddler, his mother divorced his father on grounds of cruelty. She moved to LA, California to start a new life leaving Harry with his father.

I have not yet written Dad's obituary. I'm as bad as Mom, because I'm still collecting information about his life. I promise that I will complete that soon. One of the reasons that Miko and I love going with Mom on her travel adventures is that we get to play outside of the van on our leads. We get time to explore, to smell new things, and sometimes even have posts or trees where we can sharpen our claws.

Mom has said she is sorry that she had not had time to help me make my posts. Once we got home, she was busy unpacking the van, and rearranging things. She needed to remove her things and some furniture from the guest room so her new housemate could move in. That did force her to empty drawers of things she no longer needed (yard sale!) Then she had to pull drawers out of Dad's big mechanics tool chest to move it out of the carport storage room.

Today has been a sad day for Mom. This morning, we left her friends in Curlew and drove twisty, bumpy backroads. From the main road, she turned onto a smaller road. She got excited about that one. She announced that she knew where she was. I had hoped that she knew that before we started! In no time, the pavement turned to gravel.

The trip to the frozen north was fun, but I'm happy to be away from what Mom called frost heaves in the roads. We crossed the border from Canada to the US with only a couple of questions. They didn't even ask about us. We have been camped in the driveway of Mom's friends. They have lots of space and it all smells so nice.

We have had 2 overnight camping spots right by the water in first. Seward, AK and the in Homer, AK. The only wildlife were eagles, seagulls, and Ravens. The eagles were collected a ways from our site, so I wasn't worried, but Missy wouldn't walk that direction. The seagulls stayed over the water, which was fine. The Ravens, however, hung out close in hopes that Mom might feed them.

Mom had to drive from Haines Junction, Yukon to Tok, Alaska. It is about 300 miles of bad roads. Mom explained that the permafrost thaws and refreezes which buckles the pavement. The road then becomes up and down big bumps filled with potholes 6 to 12 inches wide and 3 to 12 inches deep! Repairs to the road after a hard winter are miles of gravel.

Mom has not taken the time to let me write much. Tonight, she stopped early at an RV park in Ft Nelson, BC. Miko, Missy, and I have gotten to play outside. Mom said she saw another bear alongside the road again today, but I didn't see it. Miko thinks she wants to see one! I know she would be a snack if it were that close.

Today is Sunday, my normal posting day. Mom said that this is a special Sunday. It is Easter. She said that for many people it is a special religious day. For others, it is a secular holiday with the Easter bunny hiding eggs and giving baskets of candy and toys. Mom told us that when her human children were younger, the Easter bunny hid dried fruits, canned fruits and snack bars that would provide snacks and treats on the summer's camping trips.

Mom has been a little quiet since the party she had for Dad. She gave away the extra sloppy joe mix to the Shepard's Supper she attends weekly. That dinner gets her out of the house and forces her to mix with other people each week. She took left over salads to a friend who's husband was very sick in the hopes they might encourage him to eat.

As I told you in my last post, Mom was having a celebration luncheon for Dad yesterday on my normal posting day. As predicted, she locked Missy, Miko and I in the van while most of her friends were here. Missy got to come in before Brian left. She really loves Brian and wanted to give him kisses. She told me that she got distracted.

Mom has been cleaning. She said it is partly her annual Spring cleaning, partly getting ready to add a housemate when we return after our Spring trip, and partly for the party we will have Sunday to celebrate Dad's life. When she is planning to have guests in the house, I know that she tries to clean off what she calls the "flat places." They are some of my favorite places.

Mom has done it again. I want to post on Sundays and Wednesdays, but we haven't been doing that. I know that today is Monday. That is the day after Sunday. I knew what I wanted to say, but she kept telling me "Later." Monday is clearly later. I love her, but sometimes she disappoints me. I really should have expected such treatment.

My Mom has been neglecting my blog. I think she needs better time management. I know she has something she calls allergies. She said that the ongoing wind has increased the dust and pollen in the air. It makes it more difficult for her to breathe which in then makes her tired. We have gone to bed before 8:30 every night this last week.

Over the weekend we had rain. I usually don't mind a rainy day, because that usually means that Mom spends more time watching TV while she works on one of her quilts or currently the tee-shirt baskets. If she is sitting, I consider it my job to assist her. I like to sit on her lap while she works. The rain has stopped and the sun has come out.

My dad liked to wear sleeveless tee-shirts. I have heard this type of tee-shirt called a muscle shirt, but I can't see that applying to my dad. He did not have big muscles in his upper arms. I didn't care because he had enough muscles to pick me up, so I could snuggle with him at his shoulder. I liked that the tee-shirts were soft, and the knit made it easy to sink in my claws to hold me right where I wanted to be.

The is no way around it - my mom is weird. I love her dearly, but that doesn't change the fact that she is weird. She is a published author. I like that because she helps me write these posts. I suffered through listening to her romance novels as she edited them. I didn't mind the kissing parts, but there are parts I don't understand.

The night Dad died, Miko, Missy and I stayed close to Mom. We knew she needed us there. Dad had needed us earlier in the day, but we then needed to devote our attention to Mom. The hospice lady told Mom that she was about in embark on what they called the Year of Firsts. A few days later, Mom had her first New Year's Eve and New Year's Day without Dad.

Mom has been sad this week. I know that a number of things will have her thinking about Dad. I tell her that I'll always listen if she wants to talk. I'm also ready to snuggle close when the tears come. Miko and I watch the pictures of him that sometimes show on her TV when she leaves the room. I like to reach out to pat his face.

Mom and I did not make a post on Wednesday. She decided it was time for a camping trip at the beach. She packed the van; loaded Miko, Missy, and me; and pulled out of our driveway early. I didn’t like the start of this trip because it was foggy out. I don’t like to look out the window, but when Miko complained I knew it was bad.

Our house has three doors. Mom and Dad installed the one at the very back of the house that goes to the back deck. It normally only get used in the summer when Mom wants to sit in the shade there to read or if she wants to use the BBQ grill. Dad is the one who picked out the grill, but he stopped doing the grilling years ago.

I have not been keeping all of you up to date on Dad's progress. We were all just so happy to have him home. He and I haven't found a good way for him to pick me up because he needs both hands on his walker. I do like to walk in front of him to help guide him as he walks from one end of our house to the other.