I'm so sorry.

AndGodCreatedMe said:

babynoz said:

My heart goes out to you. This is an especially difficult time to lose a loved one...my mom died 2 days before Thanksgiving back in '05,

Thank you for sharing your special memories with us. May your dad RIP.

Thank you,

wow.. I am sorry to hear about this sad time for you.

My own dad died at 68 so I feel a little of your pain.

I hope you will soon move past the sorrow and be able to laugh and enjoy all the great memories.

Hope your father made his peace with God.

I am so sorry for your loss.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and yours...

GottaLetitgo said:

Thank you for all of your kind words and prayers. My father passed away at 5:45 this afternoon after a long brave battle. I was in the room with my my Mom and older brother when he passed. His blood pressure had been very low today and there was starting to be serious apnea between his breaths. He would go 10 seconds or more between breaths. We talked to my father throughout telling him how much we loved him and a few minutes before he passed, we saw him move his hand almost as if to wave. My mom opened the window screen because she had heard that a soul sometimes gets trapped unless you open a window. I told my brave father not to be afraid and I held his hand tight as I watched him take his last breaths. I saw his very last breath, which was not a toubled breath but a calm one, and then waited for another. After about 30 seconds I realized another breath was not coming. I told my brother that I thought he was gone and we both agreed after watching him a few more seeconds that he was gone. His looked extremely peaceful.

We never did put my father on the morphine drip. We decided after last night's drama to continue doing what we were doing as long as my father was not in pain.

My father will always be an irreplaceable part of my life. This will be a hard time but I have started the MPP (Make Papa Proud) campaign with my family where we are going to make every effort to have farewell ceremonies that will make him proud.

Thank you all for caring and for your support.

This was very beautifully written and reading it touched me very deeply. Something about deaths over the holidays, they seem so ill timed yet they bond the family together even deeper then at normal holiday times.

I hope that your farewell ceremony went as planned and my thoughts are with you and your brother and Mother as the new year begins.

Prayers to you and your family during this very sad time.

I thank everyone again for all of the kind words. This month has seemed like one long twisted dream. My family and I are doing our best to put one foot in front of the other and because for many of us, there is a lot to do (putting up Christmas stuff, getting ready to go back to work, etc.) we're able to keep busy enough to not dwell on the sadness.

We had a very nice Christmas day, motivated by trying to have the best Christmas possible for the 6 grandchilden, but my father's absence was impossible to ignore. Later that night, we got a phone call from my sister that my Mom was headed to the emergency room by ambulance. Her heart rate had gone up to 144 and she was having difficulty calming herself down. It was a panic attack, perhaps a delayed reaction to all that was going on, and she was released a few hours later but it was still a horrible thing to see my Mom in the same ER my Dad had been taken to two weeks earlier after the stroke.

The day after Christmas, we had the visitation which was very well attended, particularly when you consider that many were likely travelling due to the holiday. Several of my coworkers, including my supervisor who is the best boss anyone has ever had, attended the service. There were neighbors we have not seen in 20 years, multiple coworkers of my Dad, and his boss of 30 years who look devasted. There was a video slide show playing throughout and it was hard to believe that the small man lying in the coffin was the same big guy in the slide show, so full of life. My Dad looked small but about 10 years younger and so peaceful.

The funeral was beautiful. We played the slide show from the night before and then "Sand and Water" one of my father's favorite songs which he used as comfort when he lost his sister. Each of the children spoke about Dad. My older brother talked gave a brief bio of my Dad's life, my younger brother who has NEVER written a prepared speech in his his life spoke from the heart about how he had never really been close with Dad until he got sick and how he was so grateful he had time to be closer to my father. I spent four days on my speech, trying to fill it with humor and at the same time capture 39 years worth of memories in a three minute presentation. My father had always wanted me to get some things published and was always suggesting ideas for books that he wanted me to write. I was never able to finish any of these but I did write his obituary and felt like I did my best to do him justice in my speech.

We buried my father at the church cemetary a couple of hundred yards away. When I had woken up that morning, it was raining hard and we were all afraid it would be raining by the time we got to the graveside. About mid-morning though, the rain had stopped and even though it was cold and windy, there was hardly a cloud in the sky.

My wife was wonderful through this whole process, so supportive and so helpful. I am grateful for her and for all the support, whether it be from you wonderful folks or my coworkers, neighbors, everyone. Death is so hard but the pure goodness that is displayed in the process of supporting those in grief is life affirming.

I will miss my Dad dearly and I have still not fully come to grips with the fact that I will ever hear his voice on the phone or get one of his e-mails at work, written in all caps and filled with language that Yoda would consider puzzling. But I know he is at peace and not in pain and that is something that eases the pain. Thank you again Org for all your support through this process.

Sorry to hear of the loss of your father, Brian. I'll keep you and your family in my daily thoughts.

So sorry to hear this. My condolances

As some of you may know, I am a South Carolina Gamecock fan and today my boys are playing in the Capitol One Bowl. It feels weird because I would usually be watching the game with my Dad or else he would call me after the game. To not see him or hear his voice is such a horrible part of the "new reality" that my family is in. That being said, he has the best seat in the house today and I hope he is enjoying the game.

My condolences

Good to know your mother was okay after a few hours from the panic attack, and wonderful to here that your family came together in spirit and the funeral was part of beautiful sentimental closure.