Sunday, april 17, 2011 ❘ the gazette ❘ LIFE 5

solich: It’s been challenging for allfor a while, anyway.

She wouldn’t have it sany other way.

These boys are her grand-sons, orphaned by the sud-den death of their 34-year-old mother — Solich’s daughter Kimberlie Flowers — in October and their fa-ther’s death from a massive heart attack less than three months later. No, she wasn’t prepared to add four ener-getic boys to her household, but this is the hand she was dealt, and she’s not turning in her cards.

“I had close friends say, ‘You should have put them up for adoption.’ Really?” she says, tearing up. “How would you ever live with yourself? I am the grandma — that’s a fact.”

So after her son-in-law died in January, she went to College Station, Texas, where the Flowers family lived, took care of the over-whelming details involved with closing the book on someone’s life, and moved the boys to Colorado Spring in February.

The adjustment has been rough. The boys miss their friends in Texas. Routines have had to be established, bedtimes enforced. Solich has had little time for herself, and she’s had to absorb the cost of cloth-ing and feeding the boys because their parents didn’t have life insurance. On top of it all, her 24-year-old son, Logan, recently deployed to Afghanistan.

“There’s no way to wrap your head around it,” Solich says. “There’s no way to describe it.”

One blow after anotherKimberlie Flowers had

gone to Maine in October to help take care of her ailing grandfather. On the evening of Oct. 20, a Wednesday, she called her mother for some recipes.

“Then she said she was tired and going to bed,” Solich says. “She was going to get under the electric blanket with her laptop and turn on the TV. ‘OK,’ I said. ‘I can’t talk to you tomor-row because I’m traveling. Talk to you Friday.’”

Solich was on the road, driving back to Colorado from the East Coast with her boyfriend. She tried call-ing Kimberlie that Friday. No answer. She tried again. Still no answer. So she called her ex-husband, Kim-berlie’s father, who called his relatives in Maine. They found Kimberlie under the electric blanket, with the TV on. She’d died in her sleep; the cause has not yet been determined.

Kimberlie’s husband, No-lan, was at a class reunion, and Solich tried desperately to reach him. She got the highway patrol to track him down, and he raced home to College Station. But he was so devastated, he couldn’t tell his sons about their mother. He loaded them in the car and drove from College Station to Colorado Springs, where Solich broke the news.

“It was just awful,” Solich says. “They didn’t even have clothes with them. One didn’t have shoes.”

She went back to Texas with them and spent a week and a half packing up Kim-berlie’s belongings.

Not long after, Nolan Flowers and the boys re-turned to Colorado Springs for a Christmas visit with Solich and Hannah. Logan, his wife and their son were also there.

“We just had the nicest time,” Solich says, looking at photos of the visit fanned out on her dining table.

A few days later, on Jan. 6, 42-year-old Nolan Flowers was dead of a heart attack, his third since 2006. Solich flew out that evening and spent the next seven weeks in College Station taking care of the exhausting details involved with set-tling an estate and gaining custody of the children.

There were plenty of challenges. The couple didn’t have wills. They had a five-bedroom house filled with belongings. There were creditors to deal with.

Solich was overwhelmed, but quickly comforted by the outpouring of support from the College Station community. A fundraiser in a grocery store parking lot raised more than $30,000 in four hours. The store donated food and gift cards. People brought over meals. Someone came to clean the house. Attorneys waived their fees and helped her get guardianship of the boys.

In February, Solich loaded up a 14-foot truck with the boys’ belongings and put one of the boys in the cab with her. A baby-sitter she’d hired after Kimberlie died drove one of the couple’s cars with the other three boys and the Flowers’ cat, Vegas. Not long after Valen-tine’s Day, they were back in Colorado Springs.

New kids on the blockConner Flowers, 6, runs

to the room he shares with 10-year-old Tyler and comes back clutching a handmade book. “We Love You, Con-ner,” it says on the front. Inside are laminated pages filled with photos of class-mates, teachers and others from his school in College Station, along with mes-sages they wrote to him.

The boys agree: Leaving their friends in Texas and going to new schools ranks high on the list of the chal-lenges they’ve faced since losing their parents.

“It’s not so good because I’d like to go to Texas and bring our friends back

from page 1—

here,” Conner says.They’ve also had to adapt

to living with a new “sister,” Hannah, who fully sup-ported having the boys live with them and has no regrets. But as it is with any siblings, they have their moments.

“It has been fun to have them here, but it can get on my nerves,” she says. “It’s crazy in the mornings.”

Solich is trying to set up a chore chart for the boys and she’s established more of a routine for them.

“Grandma has more rules,” Tyler says.

That’s a small adjustment, though — certainly nothing compared with trying to cope with the loss of their parents. To help with that, Solich quickly got the boys and herself into therapy. Period of adjustment

But only a few months into the new living arrange-ments, it’s clear it will take time for the aftershocks to abate and everyone to adjust.

Solich, for example, lost her cool when Tyler and Justin were fighting in the back seat of her car one day. She asked for their cell-phones — then tossed them out the window.

“We found my phone and parts of Justin’s,” Tyler says. “He had an iPhone. It was smashed flat. It was so re-markably smashed that we started laughing.”

“Grandma had a moment,” Solich acknowledges with a sheepish smile.

On top of trying to handle things emotionally, So-lich also has the financial challenge of raising four boys. Even before the deaths of her daughter and son-in-law, she had tried, without success, to sell her 5,000-square-foot house because it was just her and

Hannah living there, and it had become too expensive to keep. She got divorced five years ago, then was laid off from her part-time job as a ticket agent with US Airways. Her sports market-ing job and the Social Secu-rity benefits she receives for the boys keep her afloat, but barely.

“Oh, my gosh — when you think about the magnitude of the expenses. The food, new clothing, school,” she says. “There was nothing provided for these children, so for me to have anything, to be able to save a little toward college, it’s hard. I’m not whining, and not holding my hand out. I’m a hard worker. But I’m just a little bit more challenged right now.”

So she’ll try again to sell the house and downsize. She’ll keep working. She’ll do what she must to take care of her suddenly super-sized family.

One of her good friends, Priscilla Visintine, of St. Louis, has no doubts Solich is up to the challenge.

“Here’s the thing about Su-san: She handles everything with aplomb and grace, and also an amazing sense of humor,” Visintine says. “She keeps her head above water, takes it one thing at a time and keeps going.”

Even as Solich’s own insur-ance ended with her US Airways job, she’s managed to get the boys on Medicaid, and is frank about turning to outsiders for help when she needs it — though she makes it clear she doesn’t want to come across as a charity case. Her goal is to make parents and grand-parents think about how they might handle the unthinkable.

“I want this to be a story of courage and hope,” she says.

As she’s talking, 14-year-old Brandon appears out of nowhere, comes up behind Solich and gives her a big hug. She smiles.

“It’s been a little challeng-ing, but it’s OK,” she says after he leaves. “The bless-ing is that they’re with me, and I’m with them every day. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

A fund has been set up for the Flowers children. To contribute, send checks payable to Susan Solich to Bank of America,, 111 University Drive East, Col-lege Station, TX 77840. Use account 586023930684. For wire transfers, use routing number 026009593 and use the same account number.

Hannah gets some help with her riding from her nephew, Brandon. Hannah and Brandon are only a year apart in age.

JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

2494 International CircleColorado Springs, CO 80910

www.thebridgeatcoloradosprings.com

Seating Limited, Please RSVP(719) 630-3330

Two Buck Lunch

March 18, 2011 at 12:30 pm(and EVERY third Friday of the month)

Just $2 includes a delicious meal, beverage and dessert

Seniors 65 and up... Join Us for the BEST deal in town!

2494 International CircleColorado Springs, CO 80910

www.thebridgeatcoloradosprings.com

Seating Limited, Please RSVP(719) 630-3330

Two Buck Lunch

March 18, 2011 at 12:30 pm(and EVERY third Friday of the month)

Just $2 includes a delicious meal, beverage and dessert

Seniors 65 and up... Join Us for the BEST deal in town!

Seniors 65 and up...Join Us for the BEST deal in town!

Two Buck Lunch

May 20, 2011 at 12:30 pm(and EVERY third Friday of the month)

Just $2 includes a delicious meal, beverage and dessert

2494 International CircleColorado Springs, CO 80910

www.thebridgeatcoloradosprings.com

Seating Limited, Please RSVP(719) 630-3330

april

may

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volunteer dayApril 19 * Crowne Plaza HotelThe Center for Nonprofit Excellence hosts this lunch recogniz-ing outstanding volunteers in the Pikes Peak Region.575-4341 * www.cnecoloradosprings.org

experience the springsApril 20-21 * Various LocationsThis interactive day-and-a-half program gives participants a window into the history, economy, arts, education, military, local government, infrastructure and challenges of the Pikes Peak region.632-2618 * www.leadershippikespeak.org

john mcilwee roastApril 20 * Stargazer’s TheatreThis toast and roast honors John McIlwee’s service and dedica-tion to Urban Peak.630-3223 * www.urbanpeak.org

fine arts center openingApril 20 * Fine Arts CenterJoin the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center as they celebrate their 75th anniversary.635-5583 * www.csfineartscenter.org

women in business conferenceApril 21 * The BroadmoorRoxanne Emmerich will keynote the luncheon where extraordi-nary local women business leaders will be recognized.575-4317 * www.coloradospringschamber.org

community business afterhoursApril 21 * Garden of the Gods Trading PostEnjoy this great opportunity to network with area businesses and chambers.635-1551 * www.coloradospringschamber.org

goodwill is goldenApril 21 * The BroadmoorCelebrating their fiftieth anniversary, awards will be presented to individuals and businesses passionate about Goodwill’s mis-sion.635-4483 * www.goodwill-colosprings.org

vineyard in the villageApril 22 * Mr. Biggs Event CenterFeaturing food and wine of the Mediterranean, this wine festi-val benefits Cheyenne Village.592-0200 x173 * www.cheyennevillage.org

small business outreachApril 25-26 * Antlers HiltonThis tradeshow-style event provides training and networking for small businesses and connects them with small business gov-ernment representatives and prime constractors.575-4326 * www.coloradospringschamber.org

casa light of hopeApril 28 * Antlers HiltonThis is a two-part event featuring a breakfast and a lunch to benefit CASA.447-9898 * www.casappr.org

el cinco de mayo banquetApril 29 * Antlers HiltonThis recognition banquet features entertainment by Aaron Gabriel and Sonia Marie De Leon Vega.648-9795 * www.elcinco-cs.org

memories in the making art auctionApril 29 * Pro Rodeo Hall of FameAttend this art auction benefiting the Alzheimer’s Association featuring art for sale created by Alzheimer’s patients.266-8773 * www.alz.org/co

temple shalomApril 30 * Antlers HiltonTemple Shalom will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary hon-oring a century of Past Presidents.634-5311 * www.templeshalom.com

furrr ballApril 30 * Cheyenne Mountain ResortAttend this event to benefit the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region featuring a pet parade and Sebastian Saraceno.473-1741 * www.hsppr.org

sowing seeds of hopeMay 5 * DoubleTree HotelThis fundraising breakfast will benefit Mission Medical, pro-viding no cost medical care to underserved individuals.219-3402 * www.missionmedicalclinic.org

peak freedom festivalMay 7 * Cheyenne Mountain ResortThis event celebrates the ideas that made America great and features Stephen Moore and John Caldera.235-5476 * www.limitedgovernmentforum.org

For a complete calendar of events, or to enter your own community event, visit gazette.com and click on: