the good fight has been fought...

Dad went to be with Jesus yesterday morning at 5:43am. it was a peaceful departing. he was where he wanted to be when he died -- at home.

on wednesday morning, mom and i decided that something needed to change about dad's care because it became more and more difficult to get him to the bathroom and back. that morning, mom had an appointment so my brother Gregg and i took care of him for those midday hours. the hospice doctor, nurse and social worker came around 1pm, which was the time mom came back from her appointment. we decided to order a hospital bed and necessary meds to keep him comfortable in what we knew would be his last days.

the bed came and he was transferred into it. the doctor told us it would be no more than a week, maybe two. little did we know that 12 hours later, he would be in heaven! it was really so fast, i don't think we even understand it. MCC is so aggressive and such a fast moving cancer. the doctor and nurses had never seen anything like it.

we had asked our church's care team earlier in the day to ask some gentlemen in our church to come and sit with dad through the night so mom and i could get some sleep [i don't think mom has slept much in the last two months!]. an elder from our church came and sat with dad, prayed over him through the night, and stayed with him through those last few difficult hours. what a blessing for us!

God made himself known through every part of my dad's journey, even these last few days. he felt little or no pain. he had a positive attitude about life and even about this fight, willing to go the distance to do everything to defeat it with God's and science's help. so much to live for! and all of those tough treatments of chemo and radiation prolonged his life; he supported me through every major life event one can have, even losing a spouse to death.

i love my daddy and i will miss him so much. i have all the wisdom that he passed on to me that i may pass on to my children and those funny sayings he had.... what a funny guy he could be sometimes.

i love you, daddy. give Brian a big hug for me. i'll see you again someday.

Psalm 91

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”