I know a lot of time has passed since the holidays. And many of you had expressed interest in coming to the final services for Eric whenever they were scheduled. Well, the time has come. Further details will be posted soon, but wanted to get a date out to everyone who may be interested in attending. So please save the date of September 11, 2010 for services in Buffalo. We will be laying Eric to rest in St. Stanislaus Cemetary in Cheektowaga (Buffalo). We expect the services to be in the early afternoon. I will post more information shortly, but feel free to contact me at ali@aliladd.com.

BUFFALO CHEEKTOWGA HOTELS

MILLENNIUM HOTEL (RIGHT OFF OF THE THRUWAY)

2040 WALDEN AVE

CHEEKTOWAGA, NY 14225

716-681-2400  OR  866-866-8086

WWW.MILLENNIUMHOTELS.COM/MILLENNIUMBUFFALO/INDEX.HTML

QUOTING  $81 MENTION PARUCKI-LADD

HOLIDAY INN BUFFALO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

4600 GENESEE STREET

CHEEKTOWAGA, NY 14225

877-863-4780

QUOTING $110

HAMPTON INN BUFFALO AIRPORT GALLERIA

1745 WALDEN AVE

CHEEKTOWAGA NY 14225

716-894-8000

1800 HILTONS

QUOTING $129

(see comments for contact information for rooms at $65/night)

I am still waiting on a full list of hotels from those that know the area better than I.  I am booked at the Millenium Hotel Buffalo, as is most of Eric’s family.  Many of his friends will also be staying at the Hampton Inn in West Seneca.  When I get a list of more hotels, I will post them.  This should get you started.

Visitation will be on Wednesday evening from 7-9 PM @ Paul A Kloc Blossom Chapels, 4680 Clinton St. (corner Borden Rd.), West Seneca, NY  (716-668-5666)  [this is a township near Buffalo].

A funeral mass will follow on Thursday at 9:30 AM at St. Gabriel’s Church, 5271 Clinton, Elma, NY.

http://www.stgabes.net/index.html

I will post a list of nearby recommended hotels shortly.

 So things are starting to come together. I will update with times once they are scheduled.

Visitation will be on Wednesday evening @ Paul A Kloc Blossom Chapels, 4680 Clinton St. (corner Borden Rd.), West Seneca, NY  (716-668-5666)  [this is a township near Buffalo].  Time is not certain yet, but we expect it to be in the evening.

A funeral mass will follow on Thursday (the church is still being confirmed).

But at least this will allow people to start making travel plans if they are planning on coming.

For those of you who haven’t heard, my husband, Eric passed away on Christmas unexpectedly.  Many people have heard this news and don’t know what happened.  On Wednesday we flew from Chicago to Syracuse to spend the holidays in Clinton, NY with Eric’s family.  The weather in Chicago was frightful and flights were all canceling, but ours left without a hitch.  Thursday morning Eric was making french toast for everyone when severe chest pains overcame him.  We rushed him to the hospital.  He had had a heart attack.  They we able to reopen the clogged artery (I got to see all the video of the procedure and everything looked great).  After the procedure Eric was doing great.  Feeling wonderful and trying to figure out how to get the doctors to let him still go on our New Year’s vacation.  I went back to his parent’s house to get some stuff for him, and when I returned to the hospital he had developed a bleed.  This is a normal risk of undergoing catherization, especially when they are inserting stents (which they did).  So in the end, they were not able to control the bleeding.  The care he received was wonderful.  The result was shocking to everyone.

Services will take place in Buffalo, NY.  I do not know exact dates yet, but we believe it should be in the latter half of the week.  I will post the specific details here when I have them.

Haven’t used this blog much since the last time I was up all night in
a hospital. But I need everyone’s prayers for Eric, my husband. A long
day at the hospital with everything getting worse as the day went on.
Now we need our Christmas miracle.

Sent from my iPhone

For there will come a time when the lucky child who felt enough to weep then will at last be able to smile and say, “Remember when Mommy read me those stories, remember when she danced, remember when she made my costume.”  When the friend who thought she would never recover from grief, when the husband or wife who thought his own life was over, will cease to cry, will be able to take pleasure in saying: “Remember how she used to lean her head back when she laughed?”  ”Remember how he loved to garden, out there way past the the last frost?”  ”Remember when she cut all her hair off and was so sorry?”    

And feel the pleasure in having her there again.  In bringing him back to life for those moments.  A new life.  Truly a life after death.  Because if metaphor is one of the ways we have left to approach God, to begin to understand faith, memory itself is a living metaphor for the eternal life.  Loss brings pain.  Yes.  But pain triggers memory.  And memory is a kind of new birth, within each of us.  And it is that new birth after long pain, that resurrection - in memory, that, to our surprise, perhaps, comforts us. 

From “While I was Gone” by Sue Miller

Cathy passed away this evening. She is now our angel.  Information on services will be forthcoming.

Cathy is in Room 215 at Houston Hospice.

Like the hospital, they have a fairly open visitor’s policy.