Sunday, August 29, 2010
Stewart at Peace
We buried Stewart's ashes on the grounds of St. Anne's church in Annapolis, MD on Friday, August 27th. We hope he is at peace; we think he is at peace.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Voyage of the Gemini, 1959
We found this note among Tooie's belongings:
Voyage of the Gemini, 1959
Crew:
Stewart Knower
Jack Seas (underwater demolition)
Peter Dawson ("Spike")
Ken Culbert
Phil Brooks
(eds. note: Bilgewater?)
Voyage of the Gemini, 1959
Crew:
Stewart Knower
Jack Seas (underwater demolition)
Peter Dawson ("Spike")
Ken Culbert
Phil Brooks
(eds. note: Bilgewater?)
Donations In Tooie's Name
In lieu of flowers, our family would like to honor Stewart with donations made to St. Anne's Episcopal Parish, where he was a member of the vestry. Donations should be written out to St. Anne's and include the following information on the memo line: "All-Saints Memorial Garden - Stewart Knower". Thank you so much for your support during this difficult time.
The address for St. Anne's is:
St. Anne's Parish
199 Duke of Gloucester Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
The address for St. Anne's is:
St. Anne's Parish
199 Duke of Gloucester Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
Bilgewater
Tooie's sister Brooks wanted to share some thoughts with us, including stories about Bilgewater. Tooie loved Brooks very much and was so proud of all of her accomplishments; he bragged about her all the time. Without further ado:
I remember Bilgewater well, a Siamese cat who always sailed with Tooie. Tooie once took me and a few of my classmates on a day sail along the Potomac. 'Bilge' was there too, soaking up all the attention.
When Tooie lived in Washington, I spent a night on his couch. The next morning, I woke up to the feathery tickle of whiskers on my cheek. When I opened my eyes, there was Bilge, nose to nose with me, a feline wake-up call.
I have a vague memory of how Bilgewater got his name: When Tooie pumped out the bilgewater from the boat, Bilge would rush over to the the side of the boat to watch, somehow fascinated.
The Johanna I remember was a small black cat that had belonged to our Aunt Olive.
About your day at the beach last weekend, when I spoke to Tooie on Tuesday, he told me about the family get-together with such delight, in spite of the weather, in spite of the late start. He loved his family so much, was so proud and happy to be with them. I think his role as pater familias is the one he loved best, and I'm so glad that he had a chance to see all of you together again. I wish I could have been there too.
Brooks
I remember Bilgewater well, a Siamese cat who always sailed with Tooie. Tooie once took me and a few of my classmates on a day sail along the Potomac. 'Bilge' was there too, soaking up all the attention.
When Tooie lived in Washington, I spent a night on his couch. The next morning, I woke up to the feathery tickle of whiskers on my cheek. When I opened my eyes, there was Bilge, nose to nose with me, a feline wake-up call.
I have a vague memory of how Bilgewater got his name: When Tooie pumped out the bilgewater from the boat, Bilge would rush over to the the side of the boat to watch, somehow fascinated.
The Johanna I remember was a small black cat that had belonged to our Aunt Olive.
About your day at the beach last weekend, when I spoke to Tooie on Tuesday, he told me about the family get-together with such delight, in spite of the weather, in spite of the late start. He loved his family so much, was so proud and happy to be with them. I think his role as pater familias is the one he loved best, and I'm so glad that he had a chance to see all of you together again. I wish I could have been there too.
Brooks
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Martinis
Gin, a spoon of bourbon, and two olives. Here's to you Tooie, we love you.
Some administrative issues: I opened comments for everyone. Also, please feel free to become an author of this blog. Let me or Jenn know if you want to do that since I need to invite you by email (and you have to register with Google I think). If you don't want to do that then just send us your writing and we'll post it ourselves. I know Brooks has percolating a Bilgewater story or two that I want to read.
And now a word about services upcoming. Per Tooie's wishes we are not having a funeral. Instead, we will be interring Tooie's ashes at his church privately later this week. We then plan to have a large remembrance gathering in two to three weeks for everyone who wants to come.
Today left us shaken. We saw difficult things. But we believe that Tooie was ready. It is the end of more than a life, it is the end of a way of living in the world with another person. Everything, especially everything in Annapolis, looks different to me now.
Love!
Some administrative issues: I opened comments for everyone. Also, please feel free to become an author of this blog. Let me or Jenn know if you want to do that since I need to invite you by email (and you have to register with Google I think). If you don't want to do that then just send us your writing and we'll post it ourselves. I know Brooks has percolating a Bilgewater story or two that I want to read.
And now a word about services upcoming. Per Tooie's wishes we are not having a funeral. Instead, we will be interring Tooie's ashes at his church privately later this week. We then plan to have a large remembrance gathering in two to three weeks for everyone who wants to come.
Today left us shaken. We saw difficult things. But we believe that Tooie was ready. It is the end of more than a life, it is the end of a way of living in the world with another person. Everything, especially everything in Annapolis, looks different to me now.
Love!
Buster
Buster is a baby-faced cat with giant paws who loves his people. As a morning greeting, he's known to pirouette with excitement. He also gets excited and falls down the stairs a lot. Tooie and he shared a similar zest for life.
Tooie died this morning at 8am with my Mom at his side. We're sad but at peace with his death. His interring will be held privately later this week, and then Renny and I will let you know further plans to celebrate Tooie's life as they are made.
Thank you so much for your loving thoughts.
Much love,
Jenn, Renny and Kathleen
Tooie died this morning at 8am with my Mom at his side. We're sad but at peace with his death. His interring will be held privately later this week, and then Renny and I will let you know further plans to celebrate Tooie's life as they are made.
Thank you so much for your loving thoughts.
Much love,
Jenn, Renny and Kathleen
Monday, August 23, 2010
Baby
Baby was little grey puff ball of a kitten...all you saw was hair when you looked at her. she was a cuddler and a purrer and she liked to watch the sun set. she would lay back in Tooie's arms while he rubbed her tummy and just purr while he smiled.
We have decided to start comfort care for Tooie. He's been started on a morphine drp and will be taken off of his medications. Then he will be taken off the ventilator.
We love you all. Tooie was filled with so much love for his friends and family and sincerely appeciated all of the amazing people that he's known.
Love,
Jenn
Puppy
Named for his strange barking meow, Puppy was a big ole cat wrho played like a wee little pup. He and Tooie loved to play together with paper bags and milk rings; a total goofball.
Tooie's fever spiked and has since gone down, but he remains fully on the respirator. He still has no response to stimuli. The doc on call is a cardiologist and wanted a neurologist to read the results of the EEG. Unfortunately, the neurologist won' do so until after 5pm. there seems to be a general concensus that this is a physical decline in conjunction with a vegetative state. They won't let us make the final decision to take him off of all life supporrting measures until the final word from the neurologist.
This will have to be short as i think that blogspot is blocked on the hospital internet and i'm typing this on my phone. I will update again whenwe hear from the neurologist.
much love,
Jenn
Monday, August 23rd - Johanna
I thought I would keep up the memories of Tooie's beloved cats, so with this post title I commemorate Johanna. She was a twitchy Siamese that only really wanted Tooie around. Beautiful but deadly, you learned to keep your distance the hard way: I found her an excellent role model.
I just spoke with my Mom this morning to get an update on Tooie. Last night, he took a slight turn for the worse. His breathing became labored and his pulse and blood pressure were jumping up and down. His fever also got higher. They put him back on the ventilator and he stabilised. The doctor told my Mom last night that it takes about 48 hours after a patient comes into the ICU to see changes, and that patients either starts getting better or starts declining. It seems that Tooie is slowly declining. As soon as results from his EEG in, I'll post them.
Tooie's last self aware moments were among friends, arguing passionately for something he believed in. He spent last weekend with his whole family (even Sarah and Michael made it!) at the beach. This is to say that he was living and enjoying his life to the end, and for that I am thankful.
Thank you to my family and friends so much for all the words of support and love; they help me more than you may realize.
Love to everyone,
Jenn
I just spoke with my Mom this morning to get an update on Tooie. Last night, he took a slight turn for the worse. His breathing became labored and his pulse and blood pressure were jumping up and down. His fever also got higher. They put him back on the ventilator and he stabilised. The doctor told my Mom last night that it takes about 48 hours after a patient comes into the ICU to see changes, and that patients either starts getting better or starts declining. It seems that Tooie is slowly declining. As soon as results from his EEG in, I'll post them.
Tooie's last self aware moments were among friends, arguing passionately for something he believed in. He spent last weekend with his whole family (even Sarah and Michael made it!) at the beach. This is to say that he was living and enjoying his life to the end, and for that I am thankful.
Thank you to my family and friends so much for all the words of support and love; they help me more than you may realize.
Love to everyone,
Jenn
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Welcome to Bilgewater's Omphalos
This is the place where Jenn and Renny will post updates about Stewart Knower, aka Tooie. We'll be posting regularly.
The current situation is that on 21 August Tooie went into cardiac arrest at his Saturday morning men's group just after finishing his argument about why a mosque should be allowed at ground zero in New York. Regardless of our opinions on this issue, I think we can all agree that this was a particularly powerful way of closing an argument.
Tooie was revived by paramedics and taken to Anne Arundle Medical Center (AAMC) in Annapolis, MD. According to the attending cardiac surgeon, his cardiac arrest was not due to any blockage in his heart (which remains strong), instead it arose from an arrhythmia . He is currently in the critical care unit at AAMC, and although he is essentially breathing by himself, he has not had reflex response to physical stimuli. For example, he has no gag reflex, there is no response to reflex tests of his feet or hands, and his eyes do not respond to light tests on a regular basis (there seemed to be some eye response this morning, but this afternoon there seemed to be none). This suggests very limited brain activity.
The doctor this morning said that Tooie is basically in a coma (no physical or mental awareness). The question now is whether or not there is any brain activity beyond that which controls his breathing. He is scheduled for an EEG tomorrow (8/23), and the results of that test will be posted here.
That's all for now. Love to all -
The current situation is that on 21 August Tooie went into cardiac arrest at his Saturday morning men's group just after finishing his argument about why a mosque should be allowed at ground zero in New York. Regardless of our opinions on this issue, I think we can all agree that this was a particularly powerful way of closing an argument.
Tooie was revived by paramedics and taken to Anne Arundle Medical Center (AAMC) in Annapolis, MD. According to the attending cardiac surgeon, his cardiac arrest was not due to any blockage in his heart (which remains strong), instead it arose from an arrhythmia . He is currently in the critical care unit at AAMC, and although he is essentially breathing by himself, he has not had reflex response to physical stimuli. For example, he has no gag reflex, there is no response to reflex tests of his feet or hands, and his eyes do not respond to light tests on a regular basis (there seemed to be some eye response this morning, but this afternoon there seemed to be none). This suggests very limited brain activity.
The doctor this morning said that Tooie is basically in a coma (no physical or mental awareness). The question now is whether or not there is any brain activity beyond that which controls his breathing. He is scheduled for an EEG tomorrow (8/23), and the results of that test will be posted here.
That's all for now. Love to all -
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