Monday, June 4. Rich Bogen, a very good friend and the husband of my cousin, Dawn, passed away on this morning. His cancer was stage 4 by the time it was diagnosed in January and he struggled with the effects of chemotherapy and pain ever since. My heart aches for what he and his family have gone through and may he rest In peace and his family cope with their grief. His obituary follows:
STOUGHTON—Rich Bogen passed away on June, 4 2018, with his wife, Dawn, and daughters, Adriane and Kate, and his car parts by his side. Rich left us for his next grand adventure, after surviving just shy of 40 years of marriage to Dawn. He grew up in N.Y. on Long Island, driving his big brother Michael crazy about cars, ham radio and all things electronic.
Although there was much more for Rich to see and do, the life he lived was full of wonderful adventures. Whether he was hitchhiking across the U.S., backpacking through the Grand Canyon, watching Jimmy Hendrix at Woodstock, or playing the piano in one of his many bands, he was always busy. Outnumbered by women in the house he could often be found hiding in the basement playing on his ham radio.
Then he discovered his next love, British sports cars, restorations, drives, car clubs, car shows and fixing cars took up much of his time. Rich dragged Dawn around the U.S. and Canada for the last 20 years to car shows, where he continued to add photos to his ever expanding collection. Photos his family will enjoy for generations to come.
For his piece of mind, he asked to be told in his final moments, that 45 had been impeached, in which he grinned and peacefully passed.
As per Rich’s wishes, there will not be a funeral or burial service. A celebration of his life will be held on Aug. 25, 2018, at EAST SIDE PARK in Stoughton, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Please bring a dish to pass, your instruments, and a sense of humor. Please pass the information on to all who knew Rich.
In lieu of flowers please donate to the musical, car or amateur radio group of your choice.
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This morning when Ben looked out the bathroom window, he spotted a fox with a rabbit in its mouth, he opened the back door and scared the fox, it dropped the half eaten rabbit in the alley and took off, missing out on breakfast. Fortunately, the trash pickup is today, so it wasn't a problem to dispose of it.
Other than a bit of shopping, helping out with kids, and some household chores, I haven't done a lot this week.
Thursday, June 7. Tom reminded me in a text today that it was 1 month ago that we left Mesa. And I sure didn't make it too far into that trip, did I? Well, regrets will get you nowhere, so I am not walking that path. I realize that I have a good, patient, loving, and caring man in my life and I need to make the best of it.
Got kids? It is a constant in this household and everything revolves around them. I, fortunately, can step back and have some space when I need it. Today, just when all was going well, I was playing with Norah in the back yard, Ben was done with work and was in the kitchen preparing dinner when Charlotte started freaking out, crying, coughing, and choking, but able to tell him what happened. It turns out that she accidentally swallowed a penny that she had in her mouth - why? Who knows? Daddy to the rescue - he calls the nurse hotline and learns to give her small amounts of water, then bread to force the penny to her stomach (no problem with it passing through) and that works and he is able to get her calmed down. After that, all she wanted to do was to lay down on the couch and she quickly fell asleep.
Ben got back to dinner prep, Jill got home from her long day of work, and we had a yummy pasta and salad dinner. Whew! I was ready for a short walk with Frisco followed by a glass of wine.
This morning when Ben looked out the bathroom window, he spotted a fox with a rabbit in its mouth, he opened the back door and scared the fox, it dropped the half eaten rabbit in the alley and took off, missing out on breakfast. Fortunately, the trash pickup is today, so it wasn't a problem to dispose of it.
Charlottes last day of school was Friday and they had a picnic in the park with lots of fun games and activities, ice cream and a food truck lunch. We went to help her celebrate and I got to meet her teacher who is retiring after 41 years.
Sunday, June10. Yesterday morning, Camille and I were walking Frisco when she spotted the fox crossing the street. We watched as it went into the year of the house on the corner, peed, and then headed west across the next street. It's pretty rough looking, been foraging for a while.
I heard from Tom yesterday that he was broke down on the side of the road about an hour from Texarkana, AR, with a broken heater hose and lost all of the fluid out of the radiator. While on the phone with his roadside assistance folks, a friendly guy who was mowing his lawn came to his rescue. The cut the hose and reclamped it and he gave him a gallon of antifreeze and water to get him back on the road, and he wouldn't take a dime for it, just told Tom to help some other unfortunate person along the way. Things like that sure do restore your faith in humanity. I've always believed that most people are good folks and would help when needed. It was definitely a good outcome for Tomnd I was glad to hear it.
