HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

  

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

We had a really nice day :)

 

 

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MERRY FITmas EVE from the GTD misFITS!!

   
We got our cardio & weight training workout in this morning in the "garage gym" so we can pig out tomorrow!! We wish you all a very healthy as well as deliciously indulgent CHRISTmas Day (which is just a few hours away)! As Dad would say, "Tastes like 'Moore's Behind!'" Huh??? To which he would say, "Like there's MORE good food coming BEHIND this!" LOL!

 

 

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SALVAGING CHRISTMAS... I'M ISSUING A NEW DECREE FOR CHRISTMAS 2024 =)

  
As you may recall the Christmas story in Luke chapter 2 starts out with a decree:

"Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth." Luke 2:1 (NIV)

Just over a week ago we said goodbye to Dad (actually, "See you later alligator!"). After a very emotional week at the hospital with Dad on life support none of us felt like doing anything for Christmas and it looked like Christmas was going to pass us by with nothing more than a time to grieve. I love Christmas and I wanted to savor the entire Christmas season this year and make this a wonderful Christmas for Dad. So back in October I actually started decorating for Christmas as well as set up the Christmas tree. I actually wanted to set the tree up on October 1st and celebrate 4 months of Christmas time, but Hurricanes Helene & Milton had something to say about that. Despite my best efforts all the hurricane prep & clean up along with numerous Dr's appointments seemed to be making my quest for "4 months of Christmas" an impossible feat to pull off. But still I was doing my best to make it happen this year... Outdoor Christmas movies, make your own pizza nights, Birddog Cinema, nightly Hallmark movies with Dad & Laurie, indoor decorations, outdoor decorations, gifts, and making memories during my favorite time of the year... but with the hurricanes and all the rescheduled Dr's appointments because of the hurricanes and the momentum of life it was looking like 4 months would turn into 2 months... then 1 month... then with the loss of Dad we contemplated canceling Christmas this year, and Lord willing hopefully do it up big in 2025. The thought of waiting a year to celebrate Christmas was frankly depressing in itself. But over the past week there has been a Christmas miracle of sorts >>> a resiliency has returned!! Each day I (we) get a little better... a little more healing takes place... and all of a sudden I had a thought: "Let's SALVAGE this year's Christmas!" Let's TAKE BACK Christmas from the jaws of defeat!! Let's modify and adapt and adjust, and let's make the most of Christmas! It's within our God given decision making capacity to CHOOSE LIFE in the midst of death... to CHOOSE CELEBRATION in the midst of grief... to CHOOSE TO EMBRACE THE ULTIMATE BIRTH in the midst of planning a funeral. And so I rise to the occasion to make a new decree in the spirit of the original Christmas decree!
 
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NEW DECREE:
Now on this day a new decree has gone out from the mouth of an ordinary man who serves an extraordinary God. We shall SALVAGE CHRISTMAS! No hurricanes, no obstructions, no interuptions, no crushing deaths, and no "foggy Christmas eve" are going to cancel Christmas this year!! We will celebrate Christmas even while mourning our loss! Furthermore, I decree that because of the difficulties of the past 5 months - especially 3 hurricanes & deaths of loved ones - Christmas shall be extended for 1 week! Everyday from December 25th thru December 31st shall now be called December 25th... Christmas Day will last 168 hours this year (24 hrs x 7 days = 168 hours)... there will be 7 sunrises and 7 sunsets in this 2024 Christmas Day!!

Drop the mic! End of decree! Peace out! Lord willing, see you in 2025!!! We have a lot of Christmas movies to watch & Christmas to celebrate!!!
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Laurie & I are prepping to host the first official Christmas at my house with Traci, Dave, & Carson. Crepes in the morning and crab legs in the afternoon with funtivities throughout! This will be mine & Traci's first Christmas without parents, but we know they would be all for this! The joy of Christmas shall overshadow the sorrows of life! Merry Christmas everyone!!!

PS: Dad really loved the decorations in the livingroom!!

 

 

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CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF JERRY GARNER - JANUARY 18, 2025 (4pm - 6:30pm)

  

CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF JERRY GARNER - JANUARY 18, 2025 (4pm - 6:30pm)
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Park Place Wesleyan Church
4400 70th Ave N
Pinellas Park, FL  33781
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Come celebrate the life of our beloved "Tomato Man" at the Celebration of Life Service for Jearld Douglass Garner on Saturday January 18, 2025 at 4pm. A reception will follow in the dining hall. More details to come after the holidays. As Dad would say, "See you on the flip flop!"
  
My new motto inspired by Dad's life of generosity is "LIVE TO GIVE"... everywhere he went he gave, gave, gave... he loved to give... he lived to give! It wasn't something he did; it was who he was... it was part of his DNA.
   
On behalf of our entire family, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the outpouring of love over the past 2 weeks. Dad is sooooooo loved by so many ❤️ . We deeply miss his presence in our daily lives, yet we find comfort in knowing he is now pain-free, reunited with Mom, and in the presence of God.
  
We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
  
(Pictured here is a very young Jerry Garner during his 20 years of military service in the US Air Force... Thank you for your service Dad!!)

 

 

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

   
We were looking forward to one more birthday with you Dad, but I guess you really wanted to take that stairway to Heaven and spend this day with Mom. We already miss you, but we are comforted knowing you have no more pain, no more misery, no more inability, AAAAAAAAAND (best of all) you are reunited with Mom. Thank you for all that you did for me!! You are, without a doubt, one of a kind Tomato Man!! Happy 83rd Birthday in Heaven Dad =) 

 

 

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THANK YOU!!

   
Thank you for all the love with the loss of Dad!! I'm sorry I haven't been able to read any of the loving words on any of the posts I made since taking Dad to the ER 10 days ago. We had so much going on each day and wanted to spend time with him while we had him. The challenging (almost cruel) aspect of losing a loved one is that the world doesn't slow down... we have to go straight into all of the funeral / Celebration of Life arrangements, notifications of death, Dr appointment cancelations, bills & services cancelations, will, life insurance, last wishes, cancel pension checks & social security, meet with each military department for notification of death. There is so much involved in every aspect, but Team Sis-Bro (that's what my Sister and I call our Caregiving partnership) along with Mom & Dad's adopted third child (Laurie), Carson, & Dave are rocking it!! Monday we met with the different departments at the VA, yesterday we tackled Dad's last wishes & met with the funeral director (and selected Dad's casket... here's a pic... his casket will be in Air Force blue!!), today we meet with the church to plan out his service (sometime in mid January) and later today we meet with an end-of-life attorney to make sure we aren't missing anything. Oh, and tomorrow is Dad's birthday... and in a week is something called Christmas lol. Everyday is an emotional rollercoaster, but who doesn't love rollercoasters (grin)!! We are all doing good overall with moments of great grief. We are comforted knowing that Dad is reunited with Mom and has no more pain or misery... just endless joy in the presence of God. I'm looking forward to reading all the Facebook comments over the next few days. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LOVE!!!

 

 

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A WONDERFUL NIGHT OF LEVITY!

  
Our family was asked to attend The Holiday Family Dinner at Seasons Memory Care of Belleair where my Mom was for nearly 5 months when she passed away (2 years ago yesterday). Actually I was asked to MC tonight's event, and even though our Dad passed away yesterday there was no way that we were going to miss this special night after all the love and care Seasons has poured out on our family. The show must go on... that's what Mom & Dad would do (and want)! Soooooo I put on my silver sequin Christmas jacket while Laurie, Traci, & Carson got all dressed up and we had a wonderful night of celebration and fun!! Our dear friend Alan Tripp was there too supplying musical entertainment along with his father. Our Dad was supposed to attend tonight too. He had already written a donation check for $1000 to give to Seasons of Belleair... that guy was the most generous person you've ever met!! It was an honor to present that donation on behalf of Jerry Garner. Being a part of tonight was a tribute to Seasons and our Dad 😊 😊

PS: The food was AMAZING!!!!! Seasons treats everyday and every event as a wonderful gift & celebration!! They love the residents and their families soooo much!!!

 

 

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HEAVEN BOUND!

HEAVEN BOUND!

Dad officially departed on The Ultimate Trip at 2:47pm. Laurie said she can picture him showing up to Heaven with roses for Mom. We're pretty sure he has a box of tomatoes too.

The past week has been Dad's final gift to us... his 1 last comeback of being resuscitated and being on life support allowed us to say our final goodbyes and spend so much quality time with so many friends & family (as well as texts & phone calls & messages) that Dad impacted. It was so beautiful. We also talked about and talked through everything related to Dad's care and the last 24 hours leading to his passing away on the way to the hospital. It has been a very healthy and helpful week.
 
Dad loved EVERYONE!! Thank you to EVERYONE!! You have halved our grief and doubled our joy! Let the dancing & celebrating begin in Heaven!!

MOVIE NITES CANCELLED

Due to the current circumstances we will be canceling our Outdoor Movie Nites this weekend. Dad bought all kinds of goodies for the kids attending the movies this weekend and had Traci & Laurie make goodie bags... he was going to dress up as Santa Claus and hand them out. Instead he is now preparing for the greatest trip & date nite ever >>> a trip to Heaven to be with Mom 😀

 

 

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UPDATE ON DAD (Dec 11, 2024)

UPDATE ON DAD:

I'm sorry to share that unfortunately there have been no meaningful signs of brain function in our Dad and the prognosis is that Dad would likely be in an ongoing vegetative state on long-term life support which he would never want. He has stated several times over the past few months that he has enjoyed his life and he is living in constant pain, misery, & inability, and he would like to pass away and go be with Mom in Heaven. We are going to honor Dad's wishes by removing his life support on Sunday Dec 15th 2 years to the day that Mom went to be with Jesus.

IF YOU WANT TO VISIT DAD/JERRY/THE TOMATO MAN BEFORE HE PASSES:

We will be opening up a bedside hospital visitation of Dad for Thursday, Friday, & Saturday 9a-9p for anyone who would like to visit Dad and say one last goodbye. Dad is unconscious, unresponsive, and on a ventilator so he isn't able to communicate, but his ears probably still work if you want to love on him and say goodbye. 

 

ADDRESS & ROOM NUMBER:

Dad is in Building 100 (big building next to the parking garage and across from the main large parking lot) on the 2nd Floor in SICU in Room 2 at the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center (10000 Bay Pines Blvd, Bay Pines, FL 33744). There is a phone next the SICU doors. Use that phone to dial 14498 and let them know you're here to visit Jerry Garner in Room 2. Traci, Laurie, & I will be here most of the time.

THANK YOU'S!!!

I haven't had a chance to read the comments on my original post about Dad, but I hope to tonight. On behalf of our family, thank you all so so so so very much for the outpouring of love, prayers, support, and kindness!! We are touched very deeply. There has been so much love and healing happening here over the past few days... it's like Dad's one last COMEBACK of coming back to life was for us, and not for him... the past few days have been so beautiful, healthy, and difficult... we are working through everything, talking through everything, praying through everything, healing through everything. So many friends & family have been carrying us through this with their love and prayers!! Aaaaaaaaand the VA >>> WOWWWW, THEY HAVE BEEN BEYOND AMAZING!!! THIS IS HOW A HOSPITAL SHOULD BE RUN!!! THEY CARE SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!! THEY DISPLAY SO MUCH LOVE & DIGNITY & RESPECT!!!! Soooooo much respect and appreciation for them and all that they are doing!!!

 

LIFE CELEBRATION SERVICE:

Like we did with Mom 2 years ago we are going to plan a Celebration of Life Service for Dad for after the holidays probably during the 2nd half of January. We will update everyone once we nail down the date & location.

 

From the bottom of our hearts THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! ♥️ ❤️ ♥️ 

 

 

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I have some awful news. My Dad is on life support...

  

I have some awful news. My Dad is on life support at the VA hospital and it's unlikely he is going to make it. We are here now. We have tried to call as many people as we can, but it's still an active situation and spending time with Dad.

 

What Happened?

Dad thought he was coming down with a cold Saturday night. All day yesterday he still felt like he was coming down with something, but was doing fine. We watched the Bucs game together. And eventually he decided to go to bed early around 6pm. He started getting the chills with flu like symptoms, but no fever. We increased the heat and doubled up his blankets. Then all of a sudden he started getting worse around 8pm last night and he wanted to go to the hospital. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary of any other time we went to the hospital. But then he asked Laurie to pray for him. She did, and as Laurie and I were wheeling him down the ramp he was unable to lift his legs. As we were helping him into the car he lost all his strength and passed out. We got him into the seat. I sped off. Dad was breathing heavier & heavier and was unconscious leaning on my right shoulder. I kept pushing on him trying to wake him up while rushing to the ER. (Laurie was driving separately). I was yelling, "Dad! Dad! Wake up!!". Somewhere during the 5 mile drive my Dad got very quiet and stopped breathing... he literally passed away leaning against me while I was driving him to the Emergency Room. I pulled up to the VA ER and ran in for help. The ER staff jumped right into action with chest compressions while Dad was still in the passenger seat... they got him on the stretcher and continued. Laurie had called Traci and she raced to the hospital. When Laurie saw them on top of Dad doing chest compressions she lost it. Just a few hours ago we were just hanging out and thinking maybe he was coming down with a cold... now he was not alive... What in the world just happened?!?! The ER doctor was leveling with us that it didn't look like Dad was going to make it. Traci was still on the way devastated as she was driving to the hospital wondering how bad he was, but knowing they were doing CPR. The staff came in to tell update us. We knew it was going to be the worst, but amazingly they were actually able to bring Dad back to life after 15 minutes of life saving measures. The Comeback Kid had 1 more comeback in him! Traci arrived in time for the good news. But our immediate grief that turned to short-lived joy turned back to great sadness when it became evident that his brain went without oxygen for several minutes and wasn't showing any positive signs of brain activity. They asked how come I didn't call 911. My simple honest answer is that I didn't know he was dying. I would have called in a heartbeat like I have before if I thought for a second he was dying. By the time it became dire I was already enroute to the ER... it didn't seem like they could get to me faster than I could get to them at this point. Carson and Dave rushed from his shark charter to be by Dad. Now we are like, "What in the world just happened?!?!?!" Dad was doing the best he has done in years!! We are in shock and I'm kinda of a mess to be honest from the drive to the ER... it was quite possibly the worst experience of my life, Laurie's life, & my Sister's life... but more importantly it was the probable end of my Dad's life. The first time he passed away (in the car) he went peacefully. He is now on a ventilator and all kinds of machines. His heart is working properly, but there are many indicators that he has significant brain damage. We have no idea what exactly happened last night, but it looks like he may have had a rapid onset of pneumonia and he went downhill quickly and it stopped his heart??? We were up all night. Crushed in many ways as you can imagine. But also happy Dad's suffering is almost over, and his reunion with Mom along with his ultimate healing in the presence of Jesus is about to begin. Laurie prayed with my Dad the salvation prayer a few months ago. We are forever indebted to her!! Traci & I have decided to list Dad as a DNR so barring an absolute miracle and supernatural comeback our Dad - The Tomato Man - will be starting a new tomato garden in heaven very very soon.

 

He knows so many of the medical staff here... they are doing a fantastic job and they love our Dad!! We brought his special Christmas pens and Traci & Laurie are giving them out to the hospital staff.

We tried calling people to inform them, but have run out of time as we spend time in ICU with Dad.

 

He is at the Bay Pines VA in SICU Floor #2, Room #2 

 

 

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OUTDOOR MOVIE NITES DEC 13 & 14 !! ... MAKE UR OWN PIZZAS!!! CAMPFIRE!! GAMES!! S'MORES!! GOOD TIMES!

Wow, we have been going nonstop since the Annual Banquet (and before!)... Our Outdoor Movie Nites at BIRDDOG CINEMA are next week!! Aaaaaaaaand it includes MAKE YOUR OWN PIZZA(S) toooooooo!!!!! Click on the link below for all the details and to RSVP 😃

(Click pics to enlarge and see details for each night)

GTD OUTDOOR MOVIE NITE link:
https://gtdbullhorn.blogspot.com/p/birddog-cinema-outdoor-movie-nite.html?m=1

 

 

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$83,059 RAISED SO FAR!!!!!

  
We've been going nonstop since the Annual Banquet... lots & lots of make-up Dr's appointments for Dad that were rescheduled because of the hurricanes. Anyways, we have wonderful wonderful news >>> OUR AMAZING SUPPORTERS HAVE DONATED & PLEDGED AN ADDITIONAL $20k OVER THE PAST 2 WEEKS TO BRING OUR CURRENT FUNDS RAISED TO $83,059!!!!!!!! PTL!!! Thank You Jesus!!!! ONLY $17k LEFT TO GOOOOO!!!!

If you would like to help us hit our $100,000 goal and/or watch our fundraising progress click on the link below. Thank you so much, and we love you guys!!!!

Donate & Fundraising Tracker:
https://gtdbullhorn.blogspot.com/p/fundraising-tracking.html?m=1

 

 

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