Thanks again...

I feel like even though this year has been tough, there is much to be thankful for. So, I find myself again saying Thank You to so many great friends and to our family. We had a great turnout for the toast to Dad on Saturday as we shared some of the H2 Brew. Gotta say - I'm generally not a dark beer drinker, I always left that to Dad, but the H2 Brew was good stuff! If you find yourself downtown in the next few weeks you should stop in and have some.

So, a huge thanks to Marc Gottfried at Morgan Street - we are honored and blessed that you would do this for Dad and your toast was great. Guaranteed he is smiling down on you (and your wicked tattoo that he loved!).

Thanks to Mike Cassimatis for designing a truly incredible logo. And to Ted for his recommendation of a fabulous graphic designer!

Thanks to all who came down. Thanks to those who asked about the event and are still interested in how our family is doing. We are thankful for each and every one of you. Life goes on and it wouldn't be half as much fun without you all!!

H2 Brew

As many of you know, Marc Gottfried, the Brewmaster at Morgan Street Brewery, approached us at Dad's wake and let us know he wanted to brew a special batch of beer in honor of Dad. We were shocked and truly humbled that he wanted to do this. At the end of that week we went downtown and watched a small portion of the lengthy process that went into making H2 Brew. [Dad signed lots of papers H2 (H squared) since that was his initials. So, Ted Cassimatis came up with the catchy title.]

Well, the beer is now ready for consumption and is available on tap at Morgan Street on the Landing beginning tomorrow. We will be going down on Saturday, 12/5 at 1:00 pm for a late lunch and to raise a pint to Dad (although most of us won't be drinking a full pint since our taste in beer differs greatly from the oatmeal stout beer which was Dad's favorite). I will forego the orange in my beer on Saturday in honor of Dad. If he told me once, he said it a thousand times that he had raised me better than to put fruit in my beer!

This is an open invitation for everyone to head to Morgan Street Brewery. We'd love to see you on Saturday, but if that doesn't work with your schedule, then we hope you get to enjoy some H2 Brew before it's gone!!

Cheers & Happy Holidays!

Rules of the Road...

Many of you have been asking for a list of the '8 Rules of the Road.' This story has become a legend in our circle. When Dad was going to retire, he began training Nick Mantia to take over much of his territory. Nick tells the story way better than I ever could, but basically several of these rules were thrown at Nick by Dad on their first day of riding together to visit customers. The rules are listed below. Rules # 7, 8, and 5 were given to Nick on that first morning. Dad's lucky Nick didn't get out of the car then and run away screaming!!!

Rules of the Road:

1. The Hierarchy is - Customer is 1st, John Henry Foster is 2nd, and the vendor is 3rd.
2. Don't lie to me.
3. Always be on time.
4. Do what you say you are going to do.
5. I don't deal with assholes.
6. When going in to see the customer leave your cell phone in the car.
7. If we need gas we'll get some.
8. If you have to go to the bathroom, raise your hand and we will stop.

Time for Good News...

The blog has been a bit of a bummer lately, so today we are posting good news! Mom had knee surgery this morning and is feeling great. She was finished and back home by 10:00 a.m. In honor of Dad (and due to the anethesia) she took a huge nap when she got home.

Hopefully, Amy will do a better job of 'watching' her than I did. She was with me when she hurt her knee and Uncle Ray and I had to carry her out of the Village Bar. Guaranteed she wasn't the first person to be carried out of that place!

So, all is well with the Herbsts'...life goes on...and so does the blog. We've spent the last week quoting some of Dad's more memorable lines, so I'll leave you with this one...

'It is what it is!'

Details on Arrangements...

Dad's visitation will be on Tuesday and his funeral and burial on Wednesday. We didn't want to have any conflicts with the scheduled book signing on Monday night. Our family will be at the event on Monday to support Dad, Kevin, and Don's efforts on the FANTASTIC book. You'll love it. We'd love to see you there and we'll raise a pint to Dad! Below are the details for the week:

Monday – The St. Louis Brews Book singing at Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Ave, 63143, in Maplewood from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm.

Tuesday – Visitation is at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 350 East Fourth Street, Eureka, MO 63025, click here for map, from 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Wednesday – Funeral Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 350 East Fourth Street, Eureka, MO 63025, at 11:00 am. Burial following at 1:00 pm at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, 2900 Sheridan Road, St. Louis, MO 63125. Reception in celebration of Dad's life following from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm at Schlafly Tap Room, 2100 Locust Street, St. Louis, MO 63103.

"Lighten Up Dutch"

I am sad to say that Dad passed away last night. I'm pretty much at a loss for words this morning. The phrase 'Lighten up Dutch' has been in my mind all morning. Dad told me that about a million times over the last 35 years. Apparently, I got the lionshare of his stubbornness. It is one of my favorite 'Hankisms.' Although I didn't appreciate it most of the times he told me that :)

I'll post the wake and funeral details here when I have them. But, I'll leave you with a few Hankisms. The first is one I'm sure he has thought recently...

Who signed me up for this shit?
I'm just a kid from Dogtown, what do I know?
Don't let the bastards get you down.

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

In typical Dad fashion his 4 day hospital stay has now turned into 9 and the end to the stay is not in the immediate future. He has had a roller coaster week, with ups and downs coming in his blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, but never in his attitude. Even when he was in ICU last Saturday he said he felt fine. The good news is, he is not in pain.

The story is very long and involved for what he's been through in the last week, so we'll just play the highlight reel...lots of fluids in...2 gallons of fluid drained off his stomach...started chemo...ICU for 24 hours because of low blood pressure (ironically, this was at the same time the Cardinals lost the series, which would make you think his blood pressure would have gone up)...liver not functioning correctly...had to skip chemo this week because of low platelet counts. The bad news is the fluid from his stomach cavity contained lots of cancer cells, which means it is 'everywhere' according to the doctors. So, what next?

Dad's friend Fr. Anderson came yesterday and gave Dad the sacrament for the sick. Father guaranteed him this doesn't mean the end and he can even get it more than once. When he was finished, Dad asked how long it was good for. Even in his weakened state he is cracking jokes. They hope to get another round of chemo in him soon, to fight off the cancer and get his liver to start functioning properly.

The book signing is still on for Monday night. Dad will be there, although it may be through modern technology. So, come join us and raise a pint to Dad on Monday, October 19th at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood at 7:00 p.m. He will either be there in person or via Skype. While you are there you can pick up a copy of this book Dad co-authored called 'St. Louis Brews.' It is really a great book (I'm truly not biased) and you can see the cover and a description here: http://www.reedypress.com/

On another note, that is so ridiculous it's almost funny (almost)...Mom torqued her knee and had to make a trip to the orthopedic surgeon and get an mri. They think she tore her meniscus - we'll find out more next week. In the mean time, she stole Dad's walker since she can't bear weight on that leg. Sue's husband Jeff suggested they get a double-walker, similar to the double-strollers for twins. I took a picture of Mom with the walker, but the gesture she was making at me made the photo rank above a G rating, so I didn't post it here. When it rains, it pours....and I'm sitting in the middle of a tsunami. (Did I mention my niece has swine flu...my car broke down...Amy's car broke down...and the list goes on and on.)