Dad

[Cow Poke]

I am glad you and your family got to be there with him!

My Hospice Nurse Daughter told me, "Dad, I have never seen such a peaceful passing". And she's seen a lot of "passings", including her first husband.

[Littlejoe]

My Hospice Nurse Daughter told me, "Dad, I have never seen such a peaceful passing". And she's seen a lot of "passings", including her first husband.

That's an awesome testimony of a life lived well...to be at peace when going home. We will continue to lift you up in prayer!

[Cow Poke]

So, my brother (by the way, the funeral went fine) from North Carolina is a Pastor, so it fell on the two of us to work out the funeral arrangements. I had already talked to my 5 sisters (we got there Saturday evening, my brother didn't get there til Monday night late). So, Tuesday morning, my brother and I met for breakfast to discuss the funeral. I had mapped out a service where I welcomed the people, led some songs, the local pastor would do the Obit and make some personal comments, then my brother would preach the sermon.

After listening very politely, my brother pulled out a piece of paper and tossed it on the table, and said, "OK, thank you for your thoughts, but this is how it's goin' down". (he was smiling - we get along great)

He had himself doing the welcome and obit, me doing some congregational singing, the local pastor doing scripture and prayer, and ME doing the sermon.

I told him I had deferred to him as the "senior" pastor, and he quickly replied "which means I get to delegate, so I'm delegating".

So, I led the singing (our family has always ... well, let's just say we have a lot of musical talent, then there's me ) AND preached the sermon, and I think it all went well.

Because this was a "mom and pop shop" funeral home, not a chain, they had to ORDER a casket, so the SOONEST the funeral could be was Wednesday afternoon. We had really hoped it would be on Tuesday, as we still had a 19 hour drive to get home. On top of that, because the funeral was late in the afternoon, the graveside service had to be the NEXT DAY, as no services at the cemetery can start after 3PM in the winter. It was military funeral with full military honors, which I opted to forego -- been to a bunch of those before, I had my peace 'saying goodbye' at the Wednesday service, and there would be plenty of family members attending the Thursday morning military burial.

On Tuesday night (actually, the wee hours of Wednesday morning) I got horribly sick, throwing up and ... um... what else goes with that. From about 2 AM til about 7 AM, I really didn't think I was going to be able go get out of bed for the funeral. That finally cleared up, but my throat was really raspy from throwing up, so it made "preaching the funeral" a challenge, but my brothers-in-law told me after the fact that they couldn't even tell I'd been sick.

The funeral service itself was wonderful, well attended, and celebrating the life of my Dad. Sure there were tears, but I preached the 2 Cor 5 "groaning to throw off this tent we live in" sermon, and it was so befitting, cause Dad had been groaning loudly the last few days before falling into a sleep, which lasted a couple more days, then a very quiet passing on Sunday Morning during church time.

[Cow Poke]

So, I was talking to my Baby Sister this morning, about the brief periods of dementia and unrest Dad experienced shortly before calming down and breathing his last. I had been, as I have said, concerned that my sister was having to deal with that, which was making me want to get to Ohio and give her some relief.

We were musing over the fact that, at the end of that "restless" period, dad had asked for some ice cream. The nursing staff fed him a couple spoonfuls of ice cream, whereupon he settled down. It's just like my Dad that his last intelligible words on this planet may well have been "I want ice cream".

I love a man who has his priorities straight! And I think I'll go have a bowl of ice cream in his honor.

Sis was able to attend Church in Ohio for the first time in a long time without feeling guilty that she wasn't sitting with Dad, or about to get a phone call about his care.

[Sea of red]

So, we drove through the night, leaving home about 6 PM Friday and arriving Columbus OH area some time after 4 PM Saturday. ONLY traffic congestion we ran into was Louisville and Cincinnati - VERY little congestion in Columbus. I've never come through Cincinnati without major traffic problems.

ANYWAY, my next-to-youngest sister from Atlanta area texted us as we were leaving Texas into Oklahoma, and they were just leaving their house. Long story short, we were comparing progress of our drives, and both of our GPS forecast an ETA of within 1 minute of each other. Sure enough, we arrived at the Nursing Home ONE MINUTE before my sister and her husband and daughter. That was kinda fun.

But what you're really interested in....

Dad was sleeping when we got here, and as we sat in his room (Nursing home was so accommodating - they put him in a room big enough for us (about 20 of us) to fit in with him - and he appeared to be in no pain or discomfort at all. I had a good time visiting with my siblings and their spouses and kids yesterday evening - then we reassembled there again this morning.

His breathing seemed to change from -- hard to describe unless you've been there - no longer chest or abdomen moving, but just light 'mouth breathing' - the brain was telling his body to breathe, but there was no force behind it at all. It was obvious to me he was really near the end.

Long story short - he "went to Sunday Morning Church in Heaven" -- passing very quietly and peacefully this morning about 11:35 AM.

All I can say --- It is Well With My Soul.

and -- Thank you, Jesus.

Sorry for your loss.

[Cow Poke]

Sorry for your loss.

Thanks, Sea. I appreciate that.

[Sparko]

An aunt of mine just died and I will be going to her funeral next week. It sucks getting older, it means you start losing people around you. This aunt was one who loved art and crafts and when I was younger she helped me learn to paint in oil and acrylic.