May Update

May 18, 2024

Beer in the Barn

Some of the best beer surprises are the ones you find in unexpected places. One of our new Iowa pickleball friends recommended that we try out a bar in St. Donatus for a good burger with homemade French fries. I asked about the beer, and the response was along the lines of “yes, they have beer.” St. Donatus, population 120, is a very small town founded by a Luxembourg early settler. If you blink at highway speeds, you could easily miss it. In doing some navigational research, I saw a listing for “Beer in the Barn” across the street from said bar and tucked behind an old Inn. As it turned out, the burgers and fries at the bar were just okay, but Beer in the Barn was a stunning find. The pictures we took don’t do it justice. The stone barn is supposedly the oldest standing barn in Iowa. We asked the chief bartender/owner to tell us his story. In doing so, we learned that his wife is the brewmaster. We later learned from her that one of her best friends lives in Lodi. That Lodi woman i

After battling a failed respiratory system for four months in the hospital, my 23-year-old son, Justin, died last night. Last week, he was driving the hospital bean-counters and back-office people crazy by having way too much fun in the hospital. He was playing video games, watching sports and crime shows on tv, and ordering Uber Eats. Then Saturday afternoon, he went code blue with rapid changes in oxygen level, heart rate and blood pressure.

With modern medicine, drugs and technology, hospital staff stabilized his numbers, but Justin became quite uncomfortable and agitated. His last words were, "Will it ever end?" Allie flew home on Sunday night, and her presence in the hospital room on Monday brought a final, brief smile to Justin's lips. He passed later that night.

I'm proud of my son for his lifetime willingness to fight for a life that was in many ways fuller than most able-bodied people. In return, he made our lives richer and fuller.

After a time for grieving the loss of Justin and also celebrating his life, I will be back, hopefully, with more adventures of my own to document in this blog. Life is short, and tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Comments

Ray said…

John, my sincere condolences. I'm grateful for you sharing your son's story through his trials and tribulations. He was a modern day hero to me.

Best,
Ray

May 9, 2024 at 9:21 PM