Today is the anniversary of my father’s death. A week after moving into their new house, my father got up off the couch to go to the bathroom. Instead of opening the bathroom door, he opened the door to the basement and went flying down the stairs. He lived for three weeks.
How can I properly explain how I feel today? A year ago today I was home; I had so much to take care of. I was with my father the day before; visiting with him in the rehab center that he was recently moved to. My sister called me around noon to tell me my father was not doing well. She kept me informed throughout the afternoon and then around 3:00 she said,
“You better come.”
I dropped my kids off at their music lessons. My friend was going to pick them up and take them along with her kids to karate. The Colonel would be home by the time karate was over.
When I arrived in NJ, my father was already in the emergency room of the local hospital. He was sleeping. The doctors were running tests. My father woke up briefly and we talked. The doctors said they were admitting him because the pneumonia he developed due to all his ribs being broken on his left side was still present and causing problems.
My mother, sister and I went to the cafeteria to have a quick dinner while my father’s room was being prepared. We all went back to the emergency room and I stayed for awhile but it was getting late and my father was sleeping again. I took advantage of him waking up briefly to say good bye.
I looked my father in his eyes and told him I loved him and that I would see him tomorrow.
My father looked right at me,
he knew me, he said, “I love you too.”
I left the hospital to make the hour drive home to Pennsylvania. I was in the house for maybe 5 minutes and my sister called and told me, “Daddy died.” I didn’t believe her. He was fine when I left him. He wasn’t in danger of dying. I never would have left if I thought he was going to die.
I can’t imagine what it was like for my sister and my mother to be there while my father was dying.
They said he started having seizures after I left and then he was gone.
My mother said that she and my sister “ushered Daddy into heaven.”
They told him it was okay to go. And then he was gone.
Why did God take my father? Why didn’t God allow him to recover from this fall? Over the past year we have thought about this and we truly believe that the Lord was sparing us for hard times to come. My father was already having problems with his memory before he fell and while he was in the hospital they diagnosed him with dementia.
My father died knowing all of us. He knew my mother, he knew his children, and most importantly he knew his grandchildren. We didn’t have to suffer while watching his health fail; watching his memory fail; watching him turn into a shell of a man.
My father lived his life with dignity and the Lord saw to it that he would also die with dignity.
I’m grateful for the life my father lived and the example he set before me.
And the one way I can honor my father is to continue to serve the Lord as faithfully as my father did.
I know that when I get to heaven, my father will be waiting for me.
And he’ll take me by the hand and lead me to my Saviour just like he did when I was a little girl listening to him preach one Sunday night many years ago...
The long bed is where I plan on planting the pumpkin plants and the two front beds are going to have my different lettuce plants, green beans and sugar snap peas. In the "old" section, you can see our tomato stakes laying down. The wind was so fierce I was afraid the wind would blow them all over and break them up.The garden is ready and waiting for plants!
But the weather must start to cooperate a little! It was overcast and misty on Saturday, but we still worked outside. And as everyone who deals with curly hair knows, that kind of weather is really not the best to be doing anything outside!
Sunday was a very cold and windy day. I had placed some of the lettuce plants, still in their pots, out in the garden on Saturday, but we had to take them in on Sunday...it was just too windy and cold for them to be outside. I had another tray of lettuce up on the back porch, but the wind took care of them!
They blew all over the back porch...
...and we were not able to save them.
I loved the raised beds in our new garden. The Colonel plans on making raised beds in the "old" section of the garden next year. He even surprised me with a little bench in the garden, to sit on and contemplate...very funny!
I love the bench.
We had a funeral at church to attend Saturday afternoon and I helped with the luncheon that we served to the family and close friends. I really enjoyed helping, but more importantly serving.
Last night was our Karate Service. It was a wonderful service. I played the piano and quite a few of the kids involved in karate either played an instrument or sang, Michael played his guitar and did quite well.
And then we had cake and coffee afterwards to celebrate our one year anniversary. What's an anniversary without cake???
Well I'm off to visit with all of my friends...YOU!!
My favorite part of the day is spending some time with each of you and learning about your days...Enjoy!
I saw this verse yesterday on Liesa's Blog. She had a great devotional to go along with it. If you have some time, head over to her blog and spend a few moments...
Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Last year I spent the day in the hospital with my father. This year it was with the Colonel. Yes, the Colonel came home Saturday evening from Texas with a lovely infection in his knee. He did manage to keep it hidden from me until 30 minutes before we were to leave for church. He even made his fabulous crepes for breakfast for all of us. Then I noticed...
He then showed me his knee and said, "It'll be better in a day or two."
I immediately said, "NO, something is wrong."
So instead of sitting in church, we sat in the Emergency Room
for 3 hours waiting for a doctor to come and look at his knee.
Don't worry, I won't show you a picture of his knee!
Let's just say it was twice the size of his other knee and quite red. These are the instruments they used to make sure there were no abscesses inside. They "kindly" numbed his knee before using a scalpel! It was quite painful he said and now in addition of having to deal with the pain from an infection in his knee, he is dealing with the pain of being stabbed in his knee.
After we returned home from the hospital, the Colonel rested awhile and the kids gave me their presents. A beautiful charm for my charm bracelet from Olivia and a set of soap and lotion from Bath and Body Works from Michael. We then went to dinner, which was very nice.
The Colonel even gave me a gift, but I'm still trying to learn how to use it
before I tell you what it is!
I hope you all had a wonderful day! I have a few new followers, so I'm off to check out their blogs and spend some time with the rest of you! Enjoy your day!
Cucumbers, green beans, sugar snap peas and squash...
Pumpkins and tomatoes. I really need to get the pumpkins in the ground, they are so huge!
And finally, my marigolds. I have three flats of these.
The Colonel will be home two days next week, can you guess what we'll be doing?
Filling up this garden!
I know we need dirt! We work in "stages" around here due to the Colonel's schedule.
Enjoy your day!
These railings will be stained to match the rest of the molding in our house. The builder completely ignored my request to stain them and when I came back a week later they were polyurethaned. And it was a bad job...some railings were done, some weren't. This has been bothering us for over 5 years and we finally decided to change it.
I'll post pictures of how they look next week...that's if my contractor ever gets here! He said he'd be back this morning, but we all know how that goes!
Well I'm off to visit all my wonderful blogging friends!
And a few new ones as well!
