My Daddy

This is a season of sadness and grief for my family.  As most of you already know I lost my Daddy on Monday morning.  He had not been sick or in poor health at all so it is a complete and total shock.  It started Monday morning at 4:45 am with the phone ringing.  It was my mom telling me my dad was having some chest pain and that she was going to take him to the hospital.  She was also debating on calling an ambulance.  My dad was in the background saying that he was fine, "Arrie tell momma I am fine."  So I told them I would get up and meet them at the hospital.  Then at 4:51 am my phone rang again and my mom told me that he had stopped breathing and was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.  I bolted out the door and made it from Plano to Lewisville in 13 minutes.  I was able to be in the room with my mom when they were working on him and gave us the news that he was gone.   I then got the whole story from momma.  He usually got up for work at 5 am.  That morning he got up at 4.  He showered and shaved and then got dressed for work.  Then he took off his work clothes and put on jeans and a sweatshirt.  He took of his watch and put his keys in moms purse.  Then he sat down on the side of the bed, woke mom up and asked her to take him to the doctor.  He said his chest pain was not severe at all, just a pulling feeling.  He assured her that he was fine and she says he looked completely normal and even had his usual twinkle in his eye.  They got in the car and he was smiling and laughing.  He got out his reading glasses and read mom a number on her cell phone.  She called her school to let them know she would not be in.  The next second she looked over and saw his head go down like he had fallen asleep.  She knew then he wasn't breathing.  She called 911 and started CPR.  The paramedics were there in 2 minutes but they never ever got him back, even after working for 35 minutes.  We now know that he had a weak wall of his heart and that an aortic dissection burst through.  We know that he was gone from the second he slumped over and that he had NO pain or discomfort.  We are also comforted by the fact that there was nothing we could have done differently as the only way to overcome this condition would have been a heart transplant and that never would have come in time.  It was truly his time to go home to be with God and he took him in a peaceful and quick way.  

In these two days since, I have done things that I never dreamed I would do.  Help make decisions about the service, write an obituary, pick out photos for a DVD etc.  His service this morning was amazing.  305 people attended.  That is A LOT for such short notice and the middle of the week during a work day.  Our preacher said wonderful words about him and there were wonderful memories shared of him.  

I can not even express how wonderful of a man my daddy was.  And there are no words to comprehend how much I will miss him.   He was my daddy, my role model, and one of my best friends.  My parents were married for 36 years and we will all have a hole in our hearts.