Rest in Peace Grandpa Joe

Joseph Andy Hall August 7, 1926-January 29, 2010

Grandpa Joe passed away at 5:30pm this evening with his family by his side. I am sad to see him go. even sadder that he suffered so bad these past few weeks.

I admire the strength of my wife Melanie and the others that were at Grandpas side this past week. What an incredibly hard thing to do. To watch someone you love so dear, diminish in such a short time. I am glad that Melanie and Apollo were able to spend some time with him this week before he passed.

In the pictures above: top picture was Apollos first birthday, the second one is in the birthing room waiting for Apollo to be born. I am glad I captured these moments on film to share with Apollo when he is older.

We will remember you always Grandpa-you will be greatly missed!

Now comes the night.

Joseph "Joe" Andy Hall...
Apollo's great grandfather and patriarch of my wifes family. With a heavy heart, I struggle to put into words how I feel about this man. I have only known Joe for 8 years but I feel as is I have always know him, that he is my grandfather. Tonight Grandpa Joe is fighting for his life. A seemingly rapid decline of his health since Christmas, landed Joe in the hospital a week ago. It is cancer...his body and bones are riddled with it. At his request, Joe is back in his own home now with 24 hour nursing care. We raced up to Central Oregon Friday night to be with Grandpa Joe. It broke my heart to see this man so frail. The pain he is enduring is unbearable.

At 83 years old, Joe was still very active and always on the go. His mind is sharp and his wit is quick. Always a humorous story to tell, or someones feathers to ruffle, or leg to pull. I admire this man. Stubborn, always in control, yet tender, caring and loving.

I left Melanie and Apollo at Grandpa's home while myself, Ian and Aden headed back to California. Saying goodbye to Grandpa was so hard. He was bright and alert and is well aware of his condinition. I hugged him, looked into his piercing blue eyes and said, "goodbye". I held his gaze for a few moments...I read so much in those eyes. I could tell that he thought that would be the last time he looked at me or his two oldest great grandsons.

It could be days now or weeks. No one really knows. Grandma Hattie and Pat will surely be by his side when that time comes, to bring him home.

-Joe, you welcomed me into your family and treated me as if I was your own. My son carries a part of you with him. You will be greatly missed!

Until we meet again...

Apple G

Couldn't wait to meet the little guy. February 16th, 2008.
Went to Portland to have a 3D ultrasound done. Completely pointless but so much fun.
I would
recommend this for any one that has a few extrabucks, especially if this will be your only child.

Apple G: As Apollo learns to talk and tries to mimic every thing we say, Apple G is the best way he knows to say Apollo. "Apple G, Apple G, Apple Geeeee!"

In the Begining....

I want to dedicate these random mutterings to my family and friends. I will be posting photos, stories and the occasional video of my favorite subject; my son Apollo. Yes, many of these photos may be on my facebook already, but, some of the people that I want to share this with, do not belong to nor will they join any type of social networking. They do, however, use the internet and my be more willing to follow this blog.
....I am almost 42 and have spent most of my life wandering "aimlessly" for lack of a better description. Few things have I done in my life that I am more proud of than choosing to have a baby. I can tell you that I had never been settled enough, stable enough nor ready enough to have a child of my own. In my youth, I always thought of myself as a future father. As I reached my mid twenties, I became more selfish with my time and freedom and began to doubt that I would ever be a father.
I began dating my wife Melanie in February of 2002. She has two sons; Ian who was 8 at the time and Aden who was 6. They were fun boys to be a step father to. As they approched their teenage years and became less sweet, I began to long for they days when they would go off to college and Melanie and I would run off to the far reaches of the globe.
I had often expressed to my beloved wife, that I had magical powers. "If you ever want to see me disappear, just get pregnant!" I would proclaim...with a smirk of course. Well, guess who got pregnant? Melanie was distraught as she cornered me to tell me the news, probably half expecting me to vaporize on the spot..."I have something to tell you and I dont know how you will take it..." Thougths raced through my head of what she could be so upset about. Did she wreck the car? was she unfaithful? how many overdraft fees could she have gotten? Oh no! Maybe she adopted another parrot!(we will get into the parrots another time) Tears filled her eyes, " I am pregnant..." At this point all I could think to say was; "Oh Thank god! I thought you were going to tell me you brought home another parrot."
We talked at length about this curve ball that life had thrown us. Mel conveyed to me that although she was pregnant, (confirmed by 4 different tests) she thought she might be miscarrying. It turns out she was right. This single event really changed my feelings about having a little one of my own. Mel will tell you that I begged her to have a baby after that. Truth is, we both thought it would be "cool" although she would have been content not to have another one. We decided to try for six months and if nothing happened, it wasnt ment to be. Well, it took little more than two...My life has changed forever.