My Dad

I got word this morning that my father passed away Monday morning.  He was about 6 weeks short of his 87th birthday, and a week short of his 69th wedding anniversary.  I'm not sure why, but our family has kind of been expecting this, so it didn't come as a huge shock.  My mother seems to be handling it quite well at present.  I think the shock hasn't quite set in yet.  But I feel that he was very blessed in that up until now he hasn't had any serious illness that incapacitated him, or forced him to have to live in a care center.  He was able to live at home up until the end.  He also had a relatively peaceful passing.  He and my mother were on their way to visit my sister when he had a pain in his chest.  My mother was driving, so hit the gas and drove about 90 mph to the nearest hospital that was about 15 miles from home.  He had one more pain.  When they got to the hospital they worked with him doing CPR, but his heart wasn't strong enough to recover.  I think my mother can feel grateful that she knows she did all she could.  If she had called an ambulance, it would have taken even longer for him to get care.  So I feel really at peace that it was his time to go, and that it was an easy passing.  Here is a picture I composed of him when he was young, and another that was taken a few years ago.