Have you ever heard of the alcohol Aftershock? It is described on Amazon as:

Aftershock hot and cool cinnamon liqueur is the ultimate Aftershock taste. It is unique with its cinnamon flavour and thick syrupy consistency. It can be enjoyed at parties as a shooter or mixed with other drinks for a unique cocktail.

As a Public Service Announcement, I mentioned this in an earlier post but I would like to state to all those that have never tried this spicy poisonous death of a liquor, DO NOT DRINK THIS. Oh sure, it goes down as any spicy sweet cinnamon alcohol would.  The cool crystals that form on the bottom are an added mystery while you are shooting it. But true to its name, you will have an “Aftershock” after drinking this.

Russell Covel Christmas 95ish

Someone, I think my John and I, thought it would be a great idea to bring Aftershock to the annual Christmas party.  This was before kids, dogs, or spouses. After a night of eating way too much food and opening gifts we started with a few shots. Everyone thought how good it tasted. Then we continued, and shot after shot, we almost finished the bottle among the 5 of us. As I noted in the PSA above, this was a bad idea especially after all that food. As the night passed by, everyone either passed out or went to bed. At the St Louis st house, Phyllis’s garage was a 2^nd bedroom AKA Bryan and John’s man\ party cave.  My John and I slept in there and we woke up the next day feeling horrible. As I walked into the house , I noticed the carpet and it looked like a bad scene from a horror movie. There were bright shocking pink stains that looked like blood splatters on the carpet. Bryan or John (I can’t remember) was passed out on the couch with a trash can next to him. The “Aftershock” of that drink was the ass kicking it gave to everyone and apparently someone puked on the carpet, a lot. I forgot to note that Phyllis just got new carpet installed a few months prior, a pretty coffee cream carpet. So as you can imagine, she was not happy with that. She was the only smart one who did not have any of the poisonous death and was fine. She shook her head at all of us, but proceeded to make us coffee and breakfast. After that year, we all agreed to never allow that alcohol into the Christmas party again.

April 21^st 2017, the Aftershock of Phyllis

After the chaos of getting everything ready for funerals, luncheons, and arrangements a new eerie calm happens.  The actual planning and activities for the funeral and luncheons was pretty set thanks to Phyllis.  She did most of it before she passed. So there wasn’t much to do but go through with her plan and for the most part it went off well.  But unless you have had someone close to you pass, you don’t realize how painful the calm is after things go back to ‘normal’. I use normal in quotes because it isn’t normal but it is life. You wake up, you do things, you go to sleep.  There are not things to keep your mind busy like immediately after the funeral. Visiting family have went home and back to their lives and there are other tasks that keep reminding you of your loss. The phone calls to insurance, credit card companies, utilities, ect and having to repeatedly say “My wife/mom passed and I need to..”  Most everyone tells you of their condolences, you thank them and then move onto business. This past week I took time off and helped my dad with this as he hates talking to people on the phone and as he said “ you do it so much you are good at it”, so I did a lot of it on speaker so he could ‘approve’ my discussing things with them.  After almost 2 days of this, we got about 95% of things taken care of. The other reminder is the material things. While a person may be gone, everything they owned is there, reminding you of things and memories.  It seems silly to think that the little things like a toothbrush, a hairbrush or clothes can trigger this but as I was packing Phyllis’s swimsuit cover-up, I remembered all the times she took Hunter swimming.   The remaining medical supplies we are donating to ALS and Phyllis’s clothes I did get to packing were donated to Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac, which is a shelter for men, women and children. I know that would make Phyllis happy to know they are being put to good use.  I made sure my dad was ready for me to start packing and asking him if he was sure and even though he said he was, I could see it was bothering him so I made him leave and go to Terri and Don’s when I was doing it. I kept a few things of hers and moved things around in their closet so it wouldn’t look so empty. But the act of doing this was just a reminder of what we have lost. The house was so quiet as I was packing up things owned by a lady so full of life. The missing was strong.

For those that are reading this, feel free to check in on him and tell him his worrying daughter told him so. He’s not on Facebook but he has his cell phone and does text. He will yell at me for worrying and I will just tell him to deal with it.

All of us kids are still checking in on him daily and his friends are helping to keep him busy. I know the evenings and mornings are quiet and those times are the hardest for him. I see it when I am there and I hear it when I call. For the most part he is doing ok but he is going to have his moments, as it is expected in the calm and quiet of the aftershock.

Peace love and blessings

-L-