We buried my dad yesterday.....
excuse my typos as I'm typing through tears & a racing mind.
What the hell we should not have had to do this, not now! For those who really have no idea what happened, My dad & Gail came over to our house on Saturday for a bonfire/cook out. Tony cooked up some brats & hot dogs on the grill. We sat around the bonfire and ate, Addison played in the yard picking up walnuts which to her are "ball"s, and sat with Grandpa (my dad) pulling on his beard while he joked that he was training her to be able to find the real Santa at Christmas time. Nick and Joey joined all of us once they got out of work, I made brownies for everyone while they unloaded a whole trailer load of wood to burn. After the brownies went around we sat around for a little longer before we all decided to call it a night. Everything was normal.
Sunday morning about 7:30 my phone started vibrating, I ignored it because Sunday was my first day off and damn it I was going to sleep in. It immediately rang again and I didn't recognize the number so I ignored it again, the third ring Tony answered it. I could hear them say something about Albion Public Safety, get to Albion, and something about Phil. Tony Asked what was going on and they said Phil is having a hard time that's all I can say, you need to get to his house as quick as you can. I immediately go into panic mode, hear my brothers truck fire up across the road and Tony calls him to tell him to pick me up so he can get Addison up and meet us over there. Nick stops and I run out to his truck, nothing much is said on the way over other than it can't be good cause they wouldn't tell either of us anything on the phone. It takes us about 10 minutes to get there from the time my phone started ringing.
We pull up to my dads house and there are 3 police cars out front and an ambulance. Not Good. An officer meets us out front and tells us to go around to the back. We walk in the house to find them working on Dad in the dining room, Gail tries to explain that he got up to use the bathroom like he does all the time and she heard a funny noise, yelled to him and got no response. She ran to the bathroom and he was on the floor and unresponsive. She called 911 and did chest compression until they arrived, they worked on him from the time they got there until well after we had arrived before they came in to tell us that they had done everything that they could do but they couldn't get him back. The paramedic said most likely it was a cardiac episode.
They didn't do an autopsy because its not required unless the death is suspicious. So we may never know for sure, they said most likely a heart attack or a blood clot. My dad was 55 years old, collapses and dies and its not suspicious, blows my mind.
My dad had surgery in July to unblock his carotid artery, all the heart test he had to go through said that everything with his heart was good. My dad's family has a scary history of heart attack's in the males, My dad had outlived all of his brothers at 55 years old. Jimmy had passed away from Cancer back in March, Butch & Buddy both of heart attacks and my grandpa had had a heart attack before he reached 55. Absolutely terrifying.
The hardest part of all of this for me to accept is that Addison is never going to remember or get to know her grandpa first hand. My Grandma and grandpa Wright passed away when I was in high school, while they have been gone a long time now I at least had 17 or so years of memories and got to know them. It kills me to think that she doesn't get that chance. Cause he was a great grandpa to his grand-kids!
It goes to show you never know what tomorrow will bring. This was the last thing I though I would be facing this week. And I am so, so, so happy that by some random twist of fate Tony decided we should have a bonfire over here Saturday night and we were able to spend Dad's last night with him. Just too soon!
The only good in this is that he didn't suffer, it was sudden and it was over. If there's a good way to go I'd like to think that quick is it. I'm glad he didn't have to live with years of a failing body, or suffer while cancer killed him as it did my uncle. He was himself until the day he died, I will always remember him as the man he has always been not a sick and dying man.
Dad's obituary
We gave him the greatest goodbye we possibly could. Dad's childhood/lifelong friend Stan did an amazing job and gave the eulogy at the funeral and then Dad got to ride on the Parma fire truck, that he drove in so many parades while he served his 15 years as a fire fighter, to his final resting place in Riverside Cemetery.
I still can't believe he's gone. I keep waiting for one of the people at my brothers house to be him, or to hear his truck drive past my house a few times a day as he pulled in and out of Nicks house. I know what we've been through was hard but I also know that there are many more hard times to come. I just can't believe it.
We've had so much love and support shown to us over the past few days, it's been amazing! It's good to know how many people who's lives he touched. And other people who care enough about you to send their support even if they never met him. It truly helps in times like these.
Go hug/call/cherish your loved ones.
excuse my typos as I'm typing through tears & a racing mind.
What the hell we should not have had to do this, not now! For those who really have no idea what happened, My dad & Gail came over to our house on Saturday for a bonfire/cook out. Tony cooked up some brats & hot dogs on the grill. We sat around the bonfire and ate, Addison played in the yard picking up walnuts which to her are "ball"s, and sat with Grandpa (my dad) pulling on his beard while he joked that he was training her to be able to find the real Santa at Christmas time. Nick and Joey joined all of us once they got out of work, I made brownies for everyone while they unloaded a whole trailer load of wood to burn. After the brownies went around we sat around for a little longer before we all decided to call it a night. Everything was normal.
Sunday morning about 7:30 my phone started vibrating, I ignored it because Sunday was my first day off and damn it I was going to sleep in. It immediately rang again and I didn't recognize the number so I ignored it again, the third ring Tony answered it. I could hear them say something about Albion Public Safety, get to Albion, and something about Phil. Tony Asked what was going on and they said Phil is having a hard time that's all I can say, you need to get to his house as quick as you can. I immediately go into panic mode, hear my brothers truck fire up across the road and Tony calls him to tell him to pick me up so he can get Addison up and meet us over there. Nick stops and I run out to his truck, nothing much is said on the way over other than it can't be good cause they wouldn't tell either of us anything on the phone. It takes us about 10 minutes to get there from the time my phone started ringing.
We pull up to my dads house and there are 3 police cars out front and an ambulance. Not Good. An officer meets us out front and tells us to go around to the back. We walk in the house to find them working on Dad in the dining room, Gail tries to explain that he got up to use the bathroom like he does all the time and she heard a funny noise, yelled to him and got no response. She ran to the bathroom and he was on the floor and unresponsive. She called 911 and did chest compression until they arrived, they worked on him from the time they got there until well after we had arrived before they came in to tell us that they had done everything that they could do but they couldn't get him back. The paramedic said most likely it was a cardiac episode.
They didn't do an autopsy because its not required unless the death is suspicious. So we may never know for sure, they said most likely a heart attack or a blood clot. My dad was 55 years old, collapses and dies and its not suspicious, blows my mind.
My dad had surgery in July to unblock his carotid artery, all the heart test he had to go through said that everything with his heart was good. My dad's family has a scary history of heart attack's in the males, My dad had outlived all of his brothers at 55 years old. Jimmy had passed away from Cancer back in March, Butch & Buddy both of heart attacks and my grandpa had had a heart attack before he reached 55. Absolutely terrifying.
The hardest part of all of this for me to accept is that Addison is never going to remember or get to know her grandpa first hand. My Grandma and grandpa Wright passed away when I was in high school, while they have been gone a long time now I at least had 17 or so years of memories and got to know them. It kills me to think that she doesn't get that chance. Cause he was a great grandpa to his grand-kids!
It goes to show you never know what tomorrow will bring. This was the last thing I though I would be facing this week. And I am so, so, so happy that by some random twist of fate Tony decided we should have a bonfire over here Saturday night and we were able to spend Dad's last night with him. Just too soon!
The only good in this is that he didn't suffer, it was sudden and it was over. If there's a good way to go I'd like to think that quick is it. I'm glad he didn't have to live with years of a failing body, or suffer while cancer killed him as it did my uncle. He was himself until the day he died, I will always remember him as the man he has always been not a sick and dying man.
Dad's obituary
We gave him the greatest goodbye we possibly could. Dad's childhood/lifelong friend Stan did an amazing job and gave the eulogy at the funeral and then Dad got to ride on the Parma fire truck, that he drove in so many parades while he served his 15 years as a fire fighter, to his final resting place in Riverside Cemetery.
I still can't believe he's gone. I keep waiting for one of the people at my brothers house to be him, or to hear his truck drive past my house a few times a day as he pulled in and out of Nicks house. I know what we've been through was hard but I also know that there are many more hard times to come. I just can't believe it.
We've had so much love and support shown to us over the past few days, it's been amazing! It's good to know how many people who's lives he touched. And other people who care enough about you to send their support even if they never met him. It truly helps in times like these.
Go hug/call/cherish your loved ones.
I am so sorry Amber. My mom passed at age 57 from a heart attack. Pretty similar situation. Although we were driving to their house from MN and she passed before we got there. Addision will remember her Grandpa because you will do a wonderful job reminding her about him. Jocelyn was only 5.5 months old when my mom passed and I only have a fee pictures of them together but we talk about my mom all the time. :)
ReplyDeleteIt will get easier, trust me. But it wil never go away. Big hugs!!!
Thanks Denise, Seth was nice enough to send us some great shots from Addison's first birthday enlarged, so Addison will have a real nice picture of the two of them on her bedroom wall. I'm happy he was around to meet her and spend as much time with her as he did in her first year.
ReplyDeleteI'm sad that there are lots of other people my age who have been here too, its shitty, but the support has really been amazing.