The Day Most Children Dread!
The day their parents die. Are you ever ready for it?? I don't know - I know I sure wasn't. I was blessed with having this man as my father for 45 years. I know some people don't have their dad for that long and I know some have their parents around a lot longer. I don't know what I thought it would be like, but I sure wasn't ready for it. It seems strange, you know that generally speaking your parents will die before you, but it's still a shock when it happens!
I flew home from Lincoln on October 26. I left dad sitting up and playing cards. I left saying "work hard, Dad, and we'll see you at Thanksgiving". I fully expected that to be the case. On Thursday, October 29, my brother called at about 7:00 a.m. You know it's never a good call that early in the morning.
It's hard to completely explain how things transpired. My dad was very sick. We knew that; but yet we thought he would recover. As sick as he was, he was alert and aware of everything going on (he had a tracheotomy so he couldn't talk well, but he did talk some and wrote a lote). Sometime after I left, his white blood cell count went up. So, we knew there was an infection somewhere, but the doctors were doing cultures to find out where. I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Apparently dad woke up that Thursday morning and very clearly told mom and the doctors (fortuntately they were in the room) that "I am done!" He wanted no more assistance and wanted to die peacefully!
So, as David called to make flight arrangements for me and the kids, my brother, mom and I had a conference call with the rehab facility to discuss the plan. Basically, they would make him as comfortable as could be and gradually take away anything that was helping sustain his life.
My only request is that if they started the process before I could get there that I could talk to Dad!
So, we got a flight (it was snowing somewhere else, so a lot of flights were delayed). I made it to Omaha around 11:30 that night. I have wonderful family and my cousins drove to Omaha to pick me up (after they had waited almost 3 hours because of a delayed flight). We drove to Lincoln. One of my cousins took my kids to spend the night with her and my other cousin drove me to the rehab place.
I got there around 12:30 a.m. on Friday, October 30. I walked in and said hi to Dad. I told him it was Laurie (that's what my family calls me) and that I loved him. He said "I love you, too." I was so thankful that he seemed to know I was there. After that he didn't say anything else. I talked to him a lot - I told him what a great dad he is, that I was privileged to be his daughter, that I was going to miss him. I still wasn't completely sure about his standing with the Lord. I know he believed, but I didn't know if he had a relationship. He assured me previously that he was going to heaven. So, I also just talked in his ear about it's not only believing, but having a relationhip. I prayed with him. I'm confident I will see him again!
About 9:30 Friday morning after a very peaceful few hours, Dad passed away. I was so thankful to be there and hold his hand. I was thankful to be there and hug my mom. The next few days were a whirlwind!
Sorry for the downer post, but it's just very important to me to document. I miss him, dearly!
I flew home from Lincoln on October 26. I left dad sitting up and playing cards. I left saying "work hard, Dad, and we'll see you at Thanksgiving". I fully expected that to be the case. On Thursday, October 29, my brother called at about 7:00 a.m. You know it's never a good call that early in the morning.
It's hard to completely explain how things transpired. My dad was very sick. We knew that; but yet we thought he would recover. As sick as he was, he was alert and aware of everything going on (he had a tracheotomy so he couldn't talk well, but he did talk some and wrote a lote). Sometime after I left, his white blood cell count went up. So, we knew there was an infection somewhere, but the doctors were doing cultures to find out where. I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Apparently dad woke up that Thursday morning and very clearly told mom and the doctors (fortuntately they were in the room) that "I am done!" He wanted no more assistance and wanted to die peacefully!
So, as David called to make flight arrangements for me and the kids, my brother, mom and I had a conference call with the rehab facility to discuss the plan. Basically, they would make him as comfortable as could be and gradually take away anything that was helping sustain his life.
My only request is that if they started the process before I could get there that I could talk to Dad!
So, we got a flight (it was snowing somewhere else, so a lot of flights were delayed). I made it to Omaha around 11:30 that night. I have wonderful family and my cousins drove to Omaha to pick me up (after they had waited almost 3 hours because of a delayed flight). We drove to Lincoln. One of my cousins took my kids to spend the night with her and my other cousin drove me to the rehab place.
I got there around 12:30 a.m. on Friday, October 30. I walked in and said hi to Dad. I told him it was Laurie (that's what my family calls me) and that I loved him. He said "I love you, too." I was so thankful that he seemed to know I was there. After that he didn't say anything else. I talked to him a lot - I told him what a great dad he is, that I was privileged to be his daughter, that I was going to miss him. I still wasn't completely sure about his standing with the Lord. I know he believed, but I didn't know if he had a relationship. He assured me previously that he was going to heaven. So, I also just talked in his ear about it's not only believing, but having a relationhip. I prayed with him. I'm confident I will see him again!
About 9:30 Friday morning after a very peaceful few hours, Dad passed away. I was so thankful to be there and hold his hand. I was thankful to be there and hug my mom. The next few days were a whirlwind!
Sorry for the downer post, but it's just very important to me to document. I miss him, dearly!
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