Family Road Update

Happy Birthday to Kevin! Know he is on the road today to watch Michael wrestle at Shawnee Mission North.

S/W Kurt. Linda's dad is stable, still in cardiac care unit and off the respirator. Kurt plans to be on the road also to take the kids to friends for a sleep over and then head to John Hopkins to be with Linda and her family.

Pop was on the road yesterday with a trip to golf course, McD's and then drove a scooter through grocery store for weekly shopping trip. Pop was also on the road last night----went to the hockey game with Kevin. He plans to be on the road again today to make the McD's meeting then home to watch the KS BB teams play on TV. (Glad I keep a calendar of his appointments to work in appointments around his road trips.)
Have to share a Kelli story. As most of you know Kelli had a green thumb and a beautiful greenhouse. She sent a pic of this plant last summer to see if I could identify it. Ironic, the plant is a forget-me-not.

Please continue to keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as we travel down this difficult road.

Love, Mom

A New Day

Sunny and cold (31 degrees) here. Pop is holding his own---having some back stiffness and shoulder discomfort but doing well following Monday's chemo.

Linda sent out an e-mail yesterday afternoon regarding her dad. "Dad has come out of surgery and is a bit unstable. There are some new concerns and the possibility of emergency surgery tonight. Thank you all for your messages and emails of love and support. I love you all." Lets also keep the Rossini family in our thoughts and prayers.

Continue to receive cards/calls from friends/relatives and think about the great times we shared with Kelli. This pic was taken 2006 Thanksgiving---what a wonderful time it was to have almost all of our family in town.

Please continue to keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Love,

Mom

Ashpole Family Update

Terry and Kat made it home safely through icy and snowy roads.

Pop had chemo on Monday. Has a CT and colonoscopy scheduled next month with a full schedule of Monday chemo days into mid February.

Bruce has had some of the most remarkable calls from people and friends who knew Kelli. He is humbled by our family and the number of people who have offered their love and support to him.

Linda's dad has major heart surgery today. Vicki has kept us posted as to the events leading to this day. All of their immediate family will be together at John Hopkins and of course I ask you to also be there in thought and prayer for a successful outcome.

We have had such an outpouring of love from friends and family with the loss of Kelli. So many people have pictures to share and thought I would continue to add pictures of her to our blog. Just seems right. Suggest you also catch Lindsay's tribute, check out the pics and also add to the "album." Kelli loved to cook--was a gourmet cook--this pic was taken on Bruce's 50th birthday celebration. Kat and I traveled to CO to help make it a special day for both Bruce and Kelli. What a fun celebration! (Click 2 times to enlarge pic).

As always, I ask for good thoughts and prayers for our family. We have a remarkable network of family and friends---thanks to all of you.

Love,

Mom

an aunt called wanda

this is lindsay, kelli's sweetest niece. i am finding it difficult to express how amazing my aunt was to people who were not fortunate enough to have known her, so i thought i might reach out to everyone who was so lucky. 

 
today was the first time i have done dishes since thursday, and surprisingly, i only had two crying outbursts. the initial shock has started to wear off, and i have been overwhelmed with grief thinking about how much better my aunt made my life. doesn't that seem a little ridiculous? every member of our family did an amazing job trying to ensure lauren and i were happy throughout tough times, and aunt kelli always tried to make sure we knew how much we meant to her. knowing her, i am sure she would want us to celebrate her life with fun stories about all of her zany adventures and reminisce about how happy she made us.

i hope she knew how much i loved and appreciated her, even if i still have a collection of all the thank you cards i wrote for her over the years, still in their envelopes, waiting to be sent to conifer. from the silly things that she would send to us, or the times she would meet up with us at the denver airport during our layovers just to take us to lunch and see us for an hours time, she really showed us unconditional love that i can't help but feel i took for granted.

i feel comforted knowing that she left us peacefully and unaware of the pain that we are all feeling at this time, because that would have been unbearable for her. she taught me how to be strong, and, if anything, i believe in the strength of our family. i hope that we think less about what we wish we might have said or done, and that we focus more about how she would have wanted us to enjoy her memory and enjoy and comfort each other.

i am trying to consolidate pictures and memories of her so we can all revel in how wonderful she was (just as she would have wanted). if you have any fond memories, which i am sure most of us do, please comment about them here.

Family Update

We thank all of you for the many expressions of love extended to our family. I have asked Bruce to compose the following note to send out to everyone. (Due to Pop's illness, we are deferring any KS gathering. Pop's MD has emphasized the importance of focusing on his continuing care and treatment.) Kelli was dear to all of us, always expressed her love of family/friends, and would have wanted us to focus on Pop's well being. Know that all of you will celebrate Kelli's life in your own hearts and ask all of you to also keep Bruce in your thoughts and prayers during this sad time in our lives.

Love,
Mom

To Friends and Family,

There have been many questions regarding Kelli’s passing and it is difficult to keep everyone who knew and loved her informed. I want everyone to know that Kelli passed quickly and did not suffer.

Due to the difficulty of assembling everyone from all over the country, we have decided not to have a formal service and will have a couple of small family gatherings in Colorado and Kansas. With this is mind, in lieu of flowers, if you would like to express your sympathy, we are suggesting a donation to the Colorado Pug Rescue www.copugrescue.org a non profit organization dedicated to pug welfare that Kelli was fond of.

Thank you for your kindness and condolences. Kelli and I are very fortunate to have so many loving family members and friends.

Please keep Kelli in your thoughts and prayers.

Bruce

Thank You

This is Vicki guest blogging for the Ashpole Family.

We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from so many people. We are thankful and blessed by your concern. This is a difficult request to make, but I must because of my Dad's well being. We cannot at this time accept flowers or plants into the house. Dad's chemo treatment leaves his immune sytem compromised and the doctors have requested that we remove all plants and flowers from the house. The potential for these items to carry fungus, mold, and bacteria into his enviroment could affect his health. The Doctors request has not been taken lightly by our family. We understand the chances are slim, but we are willing to do all we can for our Dad.
Cards are greatly appreciated and can be shared with the entire family. Thank you.

Kelli

This is Vicki, guest blogging for the Ashpole Family.

We are greiving the loss of Kelli, the youngest of our family. Kelli died early this morning of a massive heart attack. Bruce, her husband did an extrodinary effort to get her some help, but it happened so quickly. Our hearts go out to all of you who will be hearing the news as you read this blog. We ask that you keep us all in your hearts and prayers as we deal with the loss.

We will not be blogging for a few days, but if any important news about Dad arises, we will let you know on this blog. As for now assestments and appointments are the main plan.