Friday the 13th...

The journeys we take through life… sometimes hits bumps in the road… some don’t seem that bad… but it only takes one to cause the damage… and sometimes… it just can’t be fixed…

?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ~~??~~

My father was rushed to the hospital… because sometimes we tend to deny the symptoms… waiting… and waiting… for the signs to just go away… until that moment that our arrogance catches up… then slaps us in the face…

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ????????

On the night of August 27, 2024… just a couple of hours before midnight… my mother called… (something’s wrong was my first thought…) she told me that my father was at the local hospital to get checked out for dehydration… but everything was gonna be okay… and not to worry… she didn’t want me to come down there… (but maybe I should have…) I heard no more news that night… so I decided to go to bed around 1:00am…

At 6:00am the following morning… August 28, 2024… my phone rings again… it’s my father calling… but it wasn’t him… my mother informed me he was transferred to a bigger hospital overnight… because his heart stopped… (this is when anxiety set in… because these are the details they hide from the kids until they find they’re not invincible… winding up in the I.C.U…)

The ambulance driver was a close family friend… and he let me know the overnight details… from my father’s collapse onto the gurney… to his heartbeat racing at 220 +/-… then about the shock they gave him… trying to bring it back into rhythm… things my mother didn’t offer to share…

Later that morning… realization sets in… his pace maker couldn’t keep up… his heart was operating at only 30%… it’s time for a defibrillator… that’s what the doctor said… it’s something my father did not want… but he knows now… he was very lucky this time… and it sets in that he could have died… so now he knows he no longer has a choice…

Set for August 29, 2024… he goes under to add another wire… and for a short time… he was taken off all medication… and when he comes back to the room… he’s still a little groggy… but they said everything went well…

On August 30, 2024… he’s still doing well and is excited when they tell him he’ll be discharged the next morning… and needless to say…impatience sets in… but he’s tired just the same… he told me to go on home… it was a little after 5:00pm that Friday… he said he just wanted to get some rest… I hugged him and told him… I love you… and that I’d be back in the morning…

August 31, 2024… my wife and I arrive at the hospital… it was approaching to 9:00am that Saturday morning… we were there to pick him up… and take him home… only to find now… that sometime during the night… he suffered a massive stroke… his speech snatched away… his concentration almost gone… not the man he was just hours ago…

Doctors… nurses… running in and out of the room… they suddenly took him out… a CAT scan is what they said… bringing him back to the room for a brief few minutes… before rushing back in to take him for another scan… then a few long minutes later… we were informed he was headed to I.C.U. again… it was about 9:45am by now… and I was on the phone… busy letting family know…

For the next several days… I.C.U. was his home… the clot was on the left side of his brain… blocking his speech… his throat closed off… his right side was unable to move… our hearts were hurting for him… but we did our best to stay strong… constantly talking to him… holding his hand… as he slips in and out of consciousness… doing our best to try to figure out what he was trying to say… but failing time after time…

He was sent back to his room… just a few days later… it was September 4, 2024… and efforts for rehabilitation began… trying to feed him… only to find he could not eat nor drink… his throat was collapsed… and prior to this event… he had pre-selected… No to Artificial Feeding… so the next few days were rough… but they continued with exercise… pushing him to make progress…

He eventually agreed to be open for a feeding tube… this was a tough decision for him… but for a few more days we all continued trying to lift his spirits up… as he made a little more progress with Rehab…

But it didn’t last long… he was headed back to the I.C.U. again… his vitals crashing… levels up and down… signs he might be giving up… then the doctor told us about a buildup in the artery on the left side of his neck… saying they believe this is where the clot came from… but because of his age… there’s nothing they could do… these fluctuations lasted for three more days… but he was finally cleared to go back upstairs… it was late in the day… September 9, 2024…

Early… on morning of September 10, 2024… my sister called… father had pulled himself up and over the bed rails… ending up on the hard hospital floor… a few more bumps and his knee hurts now… and was still very determined to jump ship… the fall ripped the tubes out… and disconnected a few of the monitor leads… so now he was refusing to let them hook him back up… resulting in a 24 Hour watch from this point forward… he wasn’t happy… voicing his opinion in muttered words…

He had made his wishes very clear… so a little after midnight… on September 11, 2024… my father was moved into Hospice… just two floors up… all life support removed… and was made as comfortable as possible… this is what he wanted… but still trying to climb out of the bed… that is until the medicine kicked in… he was finally relaxed… peaceful in every way…

In less than three days… on Friday, September 13, 2024… I was there early that morning… right at 7:00am… I had arrived to find that the medication had inadvertently worn off… his IV was was partially pulled out… so they had to put it back in his other arm… my father was semi conscious… and he knew I was there… he clearly acknowledged as I talked to him… hugging him… and telling him how much I loved him… that was just before his eyes closed… for the very last time… at peace is what I saw again…

That evening… my sister and my niece planned to spend the night with him… but they had no idea of my father’s plans were… so roughly… around 10:30pm that night… my father took his last breath… and quietly passed away… family by his side…

?? ? ? Calling our mother with the news…

?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? simply just broke our heart’s…

?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ~~??~~

As I got out of the truck… arriving at the hospital that night… I gazed up to the heavens… the moon was aglow through the clouds… I took a photo… a memory forever etched in time…

Now I find myself… just looking out the window… deepest of thoughts running through my mind… closure not yet complete… but he’s in God’s hands now ?? not hurting anymore… our prayers answered… but we miss him so much…

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Ashes to Ashes…

?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Dust to Dust…

?? ? ? ? It’s Only in Our Faith…

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? That We Find His Love ??

? ? ? ? ? ? We’ve Always Known…

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Tomorrow May Not Come ????

? ? ? ? But Blindly We Live Each Day…

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Trusting…

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? God Will Lead the Way ??

?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ~~??~~

September 20, 2024…

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? One Week From His Passing…

We received his ashes today… another step toward closure… my mother wanted the urn sat in his recliner… that was his favorite place to relax in the house… resting overnight for a big day tomorrow… granting his final wish…

September 21, 2024…

Our family is set to scatter his ashes all across the property… tears of joy fill my eyes… just knowing he’s finally at peace… though sadness fills my heart for the love we’ve lost…

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? May God Rest His Soul ??

? ? ? ? ? and Give Us the Strength We Need…

?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Just to Move On…

?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ????

Posted:? September 21, 2024

A Moment in Time:? September 13, 2024

Photography ??

?? ? ? ? & Documented by: Daniel Crews

#dcrewswritings #dcnoteoftheday #faith? #blessings #angels #missingyou #heaven