The year 2021 will be remembered as a sad, sad year for the Schneider-Farris family. There were also happy times, so not all of it was sad.
Working backward this time through 2021…..
December 2021
My son Joel left for Sun Valley on December 14 to begin his jobs as a ski instructor and also with Sun Valley hotel’s bell service. His back flip on the ice improved, but he still has not done it unassisted without a harness.
My daughter Annabelle and her boyfriend Ben were with my husband and I for most of the month. Both Joel and Annabelle (and Ben too) did an amazing job taking care of my dad while he was in home hospice care. Dan and I could not have done it without their help.
The weekend before my dad died, Dan flew to Long Beach for a short trip to see his 97 year old mom.
November 2021
In November 2021, my father was still alive. After being in the hospital from November 19 until November 24, he was home for Thanksgiving. We thought he was going to get better. It seemed like Daddy was getting better on November 30, when my husband Dan retired after working for the Department of Veterans Affairs since 1980. Daddy, Dan, and I went out to dinner to celebrate that night and all seemed good.
Earlier in November, I had been with my son Joel and Daddy in Long Beach. We had some fun times there. It was especially fun to go to Temple Israel events including Rabbi Fox’s Installation Celebration. We saw family and friends and we even went kayaking!
October 2021
On October 20, my husband Dan, my dad, and I flew from Colorado to Long Beach for Dan’s 50th high school reunion. We also got to visit his family. My son Joel began to learn to do a back flip on ice skates. We got to spend time skating at Iceland in Paramount with the Paramount Adult Skaters. I took scooter and bike rides on the beach bike path. It was a good month although I did notice that my dad’s Alzheimer’s was slowing him down more and more.
September 2021
A happy month for me with my son Joel in Sun Valley, Idaho. My husband Dan took my dad out to eat every day and both of “my men” seemed to be very happy. My daughter Annabelle and her boyfriend Ben settled in Colorado.
A very sad thing happened: My hairdresser, my friend Gail, died suddenly of a massive heart attack on Saturday, September 18, 2021. My entire family was devastated to hear the news of her sudden passing. Gail had just been at a dual funeral for both of her parents. After her doing my hair for over thirty years, I realized how much our lives were connected. I miss Gail terribly.
August 2021
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| Rebekah leaves for her Disney On Ice Tour 8/3/2021 |
My daughter Rebekah left for Disney On Ice show rehearsals. I was with my dad in Long Beach. He was really healthy and happy all summer long. He visited my sister a lot too. We saw his cousins in the San Diego area. Daddy got to go on a Gondola ride with my nephew Drew and those cousins. I went stand up paddle boarding almost every day. Together we went to Iceland Paramount and socialized and I skated with the Paramount Adults. I saw my friends and Dan’s family. It was a really nice summer. Joel worked in Sun Valley in Bell Service at the hotel and also worked at the Elkhorn pools. Annabelle and Ben came to Long Beach for a little over a week in August.
July 2021
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| Daddy enjoying Venice Beach - Summer of 2021 |
On July 4, I took Dan and my dad to the Boise airport. I had planned to spend the summer in Sun Valley, but that was not meant to be. On July 8, I decided it would be better to be with my dad in Long Beach for part of the summer. It turned out we stayed together in Long Beach together for the entire summer. (I flew to Boise on September 6 and Daddy flew to Colorado on Saturday September 4 for my husband Dan to temporarily take care of him until I returned to Colorado in early October.)
These videos below were taken of me saying good-bye to my dad and Dan at the Boise airport on July 4, 2021.
June 2021
In early June, Dan and I and my dad went to Wichita to spend time with Joel and Rebekah who were doing the Disney On Ice Mickey’s Search Party show there. My ankle was broken so we had to take my knee scooter, peg-leg, and walker with us. I went roller skating in an indoor rink in Wichita with one skate and the knee scooter! The kids got me into a kayak too.
In mid-late-June I got the okay to walk again and enjoyed bike riding and scootering in Colorado! At the end of the month, Dan, my dad, and I headed for Sun Valley.
Annabelle and her boyfriend Ben began their summer jobs at Ramah in the Rockies in Colorado.
May 2021
My husband Dan had his second hip replacement on May 4. He was supposed to be the one convalescing, but….
On May 12, I broke my ankle while Telemark Skiing in Winter Park, Colorado. I was fortunate to have my husband Dan and my daughter Annabelle around to help me. I could not have survived without them and my knee scooter!
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| Skiing with my daughter Annabelle on my birthday May 7, 2021 - Before I broke my ankle on May 12 |
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| Kayaking despite broken ankle in late May |
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| Trying to stay cheerful with broken ankle |
We took a short trip to Long Beach so my sister could see my dad who she had not seen since the pandemic lockdown began. (Actually, the last time she had seen him was in early January 2020 just before we left Long Beach after spending all of December 2019 there.)
It was very hard to go on a plane with a knee scooter and broken ankle with a disabled husband recovering from a hip replacement and with an elderly father with Alzheimer’s!
I got to see my friend Rhonda in Long Beach and she inspired me to go on the beach bike path with my knee scooter (which is way harder than the regular scooters I’m accustomed to)! We saw Dan’s family too.
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| Hellene died suddenly in May of 2021 - This is a photo remembering a past Thanksgiving with our dear friend Hellene Orenstein Anderson |
On May 20, we received the sad and heartbreaking news that my friend Helene Orenstein Anderson had passed away suddenly.
April 2021
I skied until the very last day that Bald Mountain closed on April 12, 2021. I had to stay in the Sun Valley area to wait until April 22 to receive my second Moderna vaccination, so I enjoyed cross country skiing in the National Forest after downhill skiing ended and then did some scooter and bike rides with our dog Duchess in Sun Valley until late April. I took my dad out to eat every single day. He enjoyed being with me in Sun Valley in April. Dan was alone and worked held “down the fort” in Colorado. My dad, our dog Duchess, and I drove away from the Sun Valley paradise on Sunday, April 25 and headed back to Colorado.
March 2021
My daughter Rebekah left for Disney On Ice rehearsals on March 8. Before she left, we had an amazing day of skiing together.
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| Skating with Rebekah in Sun Valley |
I took advantage of the ski pass I bought and skied every day in Sun Valley and took care of my dad and dog. Daddy enjoyed going out to eat in Sun Valley.
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| My dad smiling by the Sun Valley ice rink on his 92nd birthday 3/24/2021 |
Dan came to visit in late March and we took my dad out to dinner to celebrate his 92nd birthday at Gretchen’s at the Sun Valley Lodge. We got my dad his 2nd Pfizer vaccine in Twin Falls, Idaho in late March. I got my first vaccine at St. Lukes hospital in Ketchum during Dan’s visit. Dan got rushed to the hospital after fainting in Joel’s condo in Elkhorn and hitting his head, but fortunately was okay.
February 2021
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| Joel enjoyed teaching skiing in Sun Valley so much! |
Joel left Sun Valley for Disney On Ice rehearsals on February 16, the day after Presidents Day. It was if he had been ripped out of “paradise,” but he wanted to go since he had been promised a ramp spot and the show was going back to life after the pandemic lockdown. Joel ended up sparing ramps and was not given a permanent ramp spot, so he was disappointed since he truly loved teaching skiing in Sun Valley and had been valued so much, especially on Dollar Mountain.
I skied with Joel on Presidents Day and that was so very special! Joel and Rebekah and my dad and our Duchess had some really special days together in Sun Valley in February. On Joel’s last day in the area, we all skated together at the outdoor ice rink in Hailey and we went out to eat together at Shorty’s Diner before taking Joel to the airport. (My dad stayed warm in the car.)
January 2021
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Annabelle drove away from Sun Valley on New Years Day morning, so to cheer myself up, I went cross country skiing that day in the National Forest on both the Billy’s Bridge (allows dogs) trails and the Prairie Creek trails (no dogs). My dog Duchess loved it. Joel taught skiing that day.
Rebekah arrived in Sun Valley shortly after that.
Daddy, Rebekah, Joel, and I and Duchess had a nice month together in Sun Valley. We skied, skater, Nordic skied, and did some snow shoeing. Life was easy, simple, and cold, but wonderful! We enjoyed the wonderful Magic Lantern movie theater in Ketchum. Dan was working in Colorado and Annabelle taught skating in Colorado.
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As I look back through 2021, I see it was really a year of change. I do hope that I can move forward in 2022 and again do the things that make me happy.
I do know already that after probate concludes, I will no longer be able to take trips to the home my dad owned in Long Beach where I built a life for myself and him. I will no longer get to physically be a part of the Temple Israel congregation that my dad and I loved so much. No more long scooter or bike rides on the beach and no more skating with the Iceland Paramount adults.
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| I will miss skating with the Iceland Paramount Adult Skaters |
We will also have to sell my father’s beautiful Colorado home, the home he died in. That is heartbreaking since so many happy memories were made there.
On a more positive note, Dan and I and our kids will continue to be able to enjoy Colorado and Sun Valley. We still have one another and we have the wonderful memories of all the years we had taking care of my dad.
Annabelle and her boyfriend Ben will be making a new life for themselves in Boulder, Colorado in the fall of 2022. Annabelle will continue to teach skating. She has been accepted to University of Colorado at Boulder.
I hope to see Rebekah perform as a hostess in Disney On Ice’s Mickey’s Search Party in 2022. I am so proud of the things she does in that show: jumping ramps, doing front and back flips on inline and ice skates, doing other specialty acts in the show, and being an understudy to the hostess! Way to go Rebekah!
Joel is enjoying his time off from touring with the ice show. He will teach skiing in Sun Valley until the mountain closes in April and also work at the Sun Valley hotel for Bell Service. He is also substitute caretaking a mansion in the area. He hopes to continue to work on the back flip on and off the ice. Dan and I hope to join him in Sun Valley soon so I can use the ski pass I bought last year.
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