The Anniversary

10 years ago this week, my father was very sick. I had seen him a few days earlier, and he seemed fine, although he had difficulty breathing and walking because of his angina. A few days later, he was admitted to the hospital with congestive heart failure and pneumonia. Due to his situation, he lapsed into a coma that was perpetuated by drugs. On September 28th, my brother and I went to Laurens to meet with heart doctor, and to visit Daddy in the hospital. Daddy was in the coma. You could squeeze his big toe, and he would react, but a machine was helping him breathe. My brother is a baseball fan, so he asked the doctor that if it was the bottom of the ninth with two outs and two strikes against him, would Daddy get a hit and win the game? The doctor replied that he had 2 1/2 strikes against him, and then he said that if Daddy were to awake from the coma, he wouldn't know who we were, because his brain fuction was pretty much gone.

So, we left the hospital and drove across Laurens to the nursing home to tell Mother. She would have to make the decision how long to keep him alive. When we told her everything, she whispered "Let him go". My brother and I went back to the hospital and told the doctor what Mother had said. We said our goodbyes to Daddy and left to go back to Columbia. About the time we got home, there was a call from the hospital that Daddy had died. He had not hung on too long after being disconnected from the machines. He had not wanted to live off of machines anyway.

One thing he had done was to plan out his funeral and burial plans, as well as his obituary. So, my brother fixed the obituary, and my job was to call people. I first called the funeral participants and told them. Then, I called the family. And then, some close friends. Daddy was real big on organizing things, so it was a breeze to carry out his wishes. I suggest that everyone plan out that stuff, because your family will be upset, and anything to ease the pain is good.

The funeral went off without a hitch, and Daddy was buried in Greenwood on October 1st, near his beloved mother and father. Mouth would join him five years later, and there is a place for me next to Mother one day. I miss my parents. Daddy for his counsel, even though we fought a lot, and Mother for her humor and love. Thanks, guys.