August 3rd- No Limits- Chapter7- Chris Ritchey
August 3, 2020 at 9:20 pm 2 comments
No Limits- The book
Forward: https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2020/01/02/jan-3rd-no-limits-the-forward-chris-ritchey/
Chapter One :https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/feb-3rd-no-limits-chapter-1-chris-ritchey/
Chapter Two:https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2020/03/03/march-3rd-no-limits-
Chapter Three: https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2020/04/03/april-3rd-no-limits-chapt-3-chris-ritchey/
Chapter Four: https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2020/05/03/no-limits-chapter-4-chris-ritchey/
Chapter Five: https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2020/06/03/june-3rd-no-limits-chapter-5-chris-ritchey/
Chapter Six: https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2020/07/03/july-3rd-no-limits-chapter-6-chris-ritchey/
After the Wedding:
I got through the wedding with a pretense of happiness, and the chemo and radiation treatments continued. We actually didn’t see Angela for weeks , she and Chris would come back to Lorain from Cleveland on weekends, Angela would stay with her parents but Chris would spend the weekend at his sisters, where I would see him. It was a bit strange but since I got to see him I wasn’t bothered.
Before Chris’s diagnosis his father and I, my mum and Nikki booked a trip to Europe. Mainly to attend a family event in September and for Nikki and her dad to go to Scotland and Germany, a cruise up the Rhine. It was supposed to be celebration of retirement and a break for us.
Unfortunately , it turned out to be the trip from hell. Apart from the fact none of us , after Chris diagnosis wanted to go and surprise, surprise Nikki found out she was 8 weeks pregnant, Nana was going to be a great grandmother at least this news was wonderful!
We still dithered about going but Chris insisted he was on his last treatment and only had some radiation to get through and we should go an enjoy. Enjoy was not the word we would ever use with that trip.
There were some good times whilst in England and Chris was only a phone call away from his worrying family . We checked on him daily, he probably got fed up but was patient with us.
It was when we left England the trouble started, we were the last train out of the Euro Tunnel to France when the tunnel caught fire caught fire. We weren’t aware of that until we reached Strasbourg and our hotel. We had only planned to stay in Strasbourg the one night Sept 11th . We had called home to tell them we would be out of phone contact for a week on the boat up the Rhine, only to be greeted with the news that the rail crossing and tunnel would be closed due to the fire and no-one was sure when it would open.
The boat on the Rhine was not good, Nikki was feeling queasy , no one spoke English and my French was poor , although I managed, we still couldn’t get any news and I hated every minute. Even the weather matched my mood
After 4 days I could stand it no longer and we left the boat early and travelled back to Strasbourg to the little hotel by the cathedral. Nikki put in a call to England whilst her dad and I went to look for food. Upon our return to the room we were greeted with the news Angela’s young cousin had been riding his bike home when a storm hit and he was killed by a falling tree limb.
Nikki was sitting cross legged on the bed the open Pizza box in front of her and no -one ate. The time difference meant we had to wait to try and get hold of Chris and Angela, and we had no idea what to do or say.
There is nothing worse than being away from your loved ones when something like this happens, you feel totally inadequate and helpless. The next morning , although I am not a Catholic, I walked across the square to Strasbourg Cathedral to light a candle of remembrance for this child who was of that faith.
My mind was not on the beautiful windows, architecture, statues and carvings
I watched the tourists as they quietly took in all the beauty that surrounded them, the sound of the Cathedral’s bells reverberating through the stillness.
My heart heavy, I leaned against a pillar whilst my husband took photos and noticed the stone pillar was scarred and what looked ( to me) like bullet holes, it hadn’t been fixed. Had there been a battle of some sort that had scarred the stone? Then I noticed
Life has a way of making you realize what is truly important “life itself”, I lit a candle for a little boy lost in Lorain, another for those brave men, boys really, whose mothers also wept whose young lives were lost all the time wondering what the future would bring , would prayers be answered…. and fighting down the tears I hoped I would not have to shed for my own son.
I knew Angela and her aunts were religious and fervent Catholics, but not sharing those same beliefs I wasn’t sure what we could do to ease or give comfort. Nikki and I purchased two rosaries from the Cathedral and had them blessed by the priest, one for Angela and one for her aunt whose sorrow I know was crippling.
Nikki flew back earlier and my husband and I stayed, he came down with some sort of horrible flu and by the time we traveled back 10 days later , we all had it, my mum, me and him. Mum ended up in hospital and I was out for the count for 11 days. It meant that I didn’t get to see Chris, none of us did because we daren’t with his compromised immune system . I didn’t get to see him until a month later. He had changed in the months I hadn’t seen him, his blonde hair had come back in dark, he had a goatee sort of beard that was tinged with red, he looked older in fact his nose had changed , I am not sure if the Chemo did something to the cartilage but his nose was thinner, a bit more beaky . I stared at him quietly seeing the changes in the lines of his face , his eyes , his smile was still the same though. Chris didn’t often smile but when he did he could light up a room and when I saw that smile as we walked into Nikki’s great room he lit up my heart once more and I remembered the years of smiles and love he had given to us always…….
To be Continued >>>
Entry filed under: Chris Ritchey, death, grief, hell is other people, Love, NO LIMITS the book, Uncategorized, weddings and funerals. Tags: Angela (Lombardi) Ritchey Murphy, Angela Murphy Westlake, Chris Ritchey, Christopher D. Ritchey, christopher ritchey lorain, death, Lombardi-Lorain, mothers and sons, No Limits the book ( serialized).
July 3rd- NO LIMITS- Chapter 6 – Chris Ritchey Sept. 3rd – No Limits- Chapter 8- Chris Ritchey
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1. Dave | August 3, 2020 at 11:32 pm
❤ ❤ ❤
2. Sept. 3rd – No Limits- Chapter 8- Chris Ritchey | That Woman's Weblog | September 3, 2020 at 12:31 pm
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