A Journey’s End – Day 6 – The End

Posted by: on Apr 17, 2020 | No Comments

A Journey’s End – Day 6 – The End

Celebrating his 93rd birthday. This is the last picture of my dad that I have.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

At 4:15 AM, my phone rings. It is the night nurse letting me know my father has passed. 94 years, 8 months, 9 days and his journey ends.

I wake Carol and Blanca. We grab the bag with his suit we have chosen to bury him in and head to the hospital. Carol and I say our good byes.

Back in the house we start going through papers. At some point, probably around 6:30 or so, I call Marsha to let her know that dad has passed. She asks if we need her but I tell her we are going to go see Keith and both head home later that day.

As I have mentioned, over the past few days and during my previous visits to Florida while dad was in the hospital, I was making healthcare decisions, signing consent forms and whatever was asked of me. While going through some of dad’s papers, I find an envelope from his attorney. Turns out it’s an addendum to his will and he actually named me as his healthcare proxy. Would have been nice if he had told me this while I was making all these decisions for him. Turns out the only other person who knew was the estate attorney. Oh dad, make me crazy even after you have left me!

The rest of that is pretty much a blur. We go through papers, run to the office to see Keith so we know what to do next, look for more papers, make phone calls, pack and head to the airport. At 3PM I’m on a plane home.

I am sad but at the same part of me is relieved that he went peacefully after weeks of suffering, and part of me feels fortunate that I was with my dad those last days of his life. That I was there to give him his last drink, to listen to his last conversation, to hear his last words, to be the last one to hold his hand while he could still squeeze mine. To give him his last kiss. One year today…his journey ended and it was a wonderful ride.