Month: July 2010

Nitty Gritty Dirty Grief

Samantha’s Obituary

Hschichie
Here is Samantha’s Obituary. It was printed in the Loveland Reporter Herald yesterday.

Her daddy wrote it.


SCHICHTEL, Samantha, 4, daughter of Bart and Heather Schichtel. Memorial Service 11 a.m. Saturday, July 31, at Faith Evangelical Church.

Publish date: 7/27/2010

SamanthaSCHICHTEL , 4, of Loveland, passed away July 25, 2010.

Samantha was born July 18, 2006, at McKee Medical Center in Loveland to Heather (Simms) and Bart Schichtel.

Samantha was truly a gift, bringing joy to everyone she met; a spark when encountered brought a lasting, sticky happiness.

Adorable, beautiful, gorgeous, sweet, angelic, enchanting, captivating, infectious, innocent, and oh so incredibly cute, she is deeply loved and will be missed by so many.

Samantha is survived by her parents, Bart and Heather Schichtel of Loveland; grandparents Jim and Judi Bishop of Highlands Ranch, Rick and Cynde Simms of Littleton and Evelyn Schichtel of Staunton, Va.

She was preceded in death by her brother, Jack Schichtel; and grandfather Ralph Schichtel.

A memorial service will be held at Faith Evangelical Church, 2707 N. Wilson in Loveland, at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 31. Picnic lunch to follow at the Fairgrounds Park in Loveland.

The Samantha Schichtel Memorial Fund has been established at Wells Fargo Bank.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to 5951 South Middlefield Road, Suite 105, Littleton, Colo. 80123

Please visit http://www.allnutt.com to view Samantha’s online obituary, sign the family guest book and send condolences.

Nitty Gritty Dirty Grief

Final (hopefully) Memorial Information

Hschichie

Hi All:


The service will be at Faith Evangelical Church at 11:00 on Saturday, July 31st.

The church is at 2707 N. Wilson in Loveland.

A picnic lunch will follow at Fairgrounds Park in Loveland, 700 S. Railroad Ave. Maps will be provided at the service.

All events are welcome to kids. The park has a wonderful water area so please feel free to dress casually or bring a change of clothes for after the service….the kiddos might want bathing suits.

We will provide sandwiches for the picnic. If you would like to bring a side dish or beverage (the pavilion does allow beer and wine), that would be lovely but it is not necessary. We would just like to celebrate Samantha’s life with you.

We know weekend time is precious and schedules are busy. Please feel free to attend the picnic but not the service (or vice versa) if you have other commitments.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Samantha Schichtel Memorial Fund
5951 S. Middlefield Road, Suite 105
Littleton, CO 80123

Or by making a contribution to the Samantha Schichtel Memorial Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank

Thank you again…all of you. We have never felt alone on this road and it because of you.

Love,
Heather and Bart



Nitty Gritty Dirty Grief

Beyond the door, there’s peace I’m sure….

Hschichie

Our home health agency picked up Samantha’s supplies today.


– 30 tanks of oxygen
– two feeding pumps
– one oxygen concentrator
– one IV pump
– one suction machine
– one pulse oyx machine

This is what we rented from the health agency. We still have boxes and boxes of medical supplies that we have purchased for Samantha’s everyday special needs.

Dismantling our fortress of medical equipment, I felt like a General who had lost a war, who was moving her troops out, who was surrendering her gun.

It was quite surreal.

Everything was moved into the living room and I stared at the pile of medical equipment, a fourth of what we still have to sort through. I looked at my mom.

“I had no idea we had all of this,” I said.

She looked at me with sad eyes, “Samantha was a sick little girl.”

“She never seemed sick to me, she just seemed like Samantha.”

“She was just Samantha to all of us.”

I was not sad to see the pile of equipment be loaded onto the truck and carried away. I was not sad to look at the truck and think I hope we never have to see that truck again.

There is a hole in our house as big as the Grand Canyon….a hole where Lil’ Miss used to be. I tend to get stuck in that hole and wonder how I will ever, ever get out.

But I will not miss that truck.