I’ve posted a bit about how and when we met. As I think through those things I am stunned by how quickly our relationship developed. So I started thinking about the timeline for all the early events in our lives together. Here we go:

September 22, 1988 – Met at Taco Cabana

September 26, 1988 – Talked on the phone for the first time.

September 28-October 7, 1988 – Sometime in this 2 week span after we met, she asked me to go see Eddie Raven. Our first “real” date, also known as the “Date that Never Ended”. I suspect it was during the last week of September, but could have been the next week.

October 28-November 5, 1988 – During this 2 week span we took our first road trip getaway to Lake Tenkiller. It was around Halloween, a little after. I remember that because we spent some time in a rundown little bar in Calera, OK and one of the guys had a Halloween mask.

November 14-18, 1988 – One night at W.W. Fairfield’s after work I asked her to marry me.

December 24, 1988 – Kim was wanted some sort of engagement ring. a CZ or something to wear that night as we headed out to her parent’s in Austin for Christmas Eve. So I ran out to the mall and bought a 1 carat Marquis cut engagement ring, wrapped it for Christmas, got down on one knee and asked her correctly.

May 13, 1989 – Wedding day.

So not quite 8 months after we met, we married. And here we are 28+ years later.

Another not so pleasant timeline is how quickly it all changed:

Thanksgiving 2016: Tailgate Thanksgiving Dinner at the LSU game. Served two fried turkeys cooked onsite along with all the trimmings prepared at Budman’s house.

Saturday after Thanksgiving: Unpack & repack for a weeklong road trip to Raleigh, NC returning home the next Sunday.

The week after we get back, Kim starts to feel sick. Sinus infection, cold like symptoms

December 14: Get news that Kim’s Mom is not doing well so we all day trip to San Marcos. Ten hours down & back .

December 15: Visit our primary care doctor. Flu test is negative. Told to come back if it gets any worse.

December 16: Kim’s Mom passes. Services are set for the following Monday, December 19. That night Kim starts feeling worse. We decide that we will go to the ER Saturday morning for some IV fluids, maybe a shot of antibiotics or a Z Pack to get her better for the trip to Austin on Monday for her Mom’s funeral.

December 17: Leave for the ER at around 8:30. Plan is to get some meds and grab lunch somewhere on the way home. By 10 AM she is diagnosed with pneumonia and Type II diabetes and told she will be admitted and placed in the ICU. By 2:00 PM we are told she will likely need to be put on a ventilator. 3PM fever spike to 105, IV meds and an oxygen mask. By 6:00 PM she is ventilated and ends up in the ICU for almost 3 weeks.

Christmas: Spent in the ICU. Kim is still on a ventilator.

New Years Eve: Spent in the ICU.

January 3: released to go to rehab. Estimated stay 2 weeks then home.

January 6: Doctor ordered a CT scan.

January 7: Doctor ordered a CT scan with contrast.

January 8: Transfered back to Med City-Plano

From there the dates get fuzzy. There was going home. And then Chemo. And then Hospice/

August 8: It’s all over.

August 10: Funeral.

Since then: Groudhog Day. Relive the previous, every day.