G749 Farm Celebration
With it being impossible to fully express the appreciation of knowing great human beings, I have the honour to try. On Thursday March 28th our 91 year old father woke up to the daily routine of grabbing the news paper at their apartment front door. Although diagnosed with alzheimers, he remembered the routine, the family and managed his husband life with tolerant class.
He fell and broke his hip on that Thursday morning while reaching for his last newspaper before Good Friday. Mom was close by so she followed the routine and got him hauled to the hospital, again. We knew it was serious when they pushed him into surgery that afternoon. It wouldn't be the first time the family would take shifts at the hospital reminding him not to pull the tubes out or remove the oxygen mask during one of his recoveries. An entire hospital staff couldn't do what my 98 pound mother did for 68 years, handle my Dad. My brother was on the night shift and just after midnight, Dad asked him to check to see if everyone was going to be ok. I received that odd text message from my brother that asked, "Are you going to be ok? just after midnight. By 3:30 AM on the morning of Good Friday, almost the entire clan had gathered at the hospital and Dad had peacefully gone to sleep one last time.
Knowing him first as.....'father', I first knew him as the hot headed Irish guy. Later, I knew the guy that couldn't be in a room without seeing everyone smile. Even in the last years, he remembered every joke he ever heard and told them often. We don't think his humour ended when he said goodbye. The timing of his passing meant that family needed to be phoned over the Easter Weekend. Everyone answers the phone with "Happy Easter" on the Easter weekend so traditionally, we decided to hold off some of our calls until the following Monday. The following Monday after Easter weekend just happens to be April 1st so letting family know about a family death on April Fools Day would also turn out to be impractical. Four days after his passing we still can't call people and now we know we've been set up by an impractical joker.
Dad had various levels of memory loss over the last ten years and we had great local support from our local professionals to find the tools to enjoy it. If you have someone in your family with memory challenges, reach out to your local societies for help. It's amazing what a shiny set of keys or an old coin will do to carry a happy conversation forward for hours.
http://alzheimer.ca/en/ab
This photo of a photo best represents how I remember it. I kept getting stuck with bigger and bigger trucks, but he would always pull me out.
The most important reason for this post was a grand surprise he left behind that we didn't see coming. He had written 71 pages of life experiences, stories and memories that is one of the most interesting autobiographies I have ever taken the time to read. That one connection with his past and family history is more important than I can say. If you haven't already started your story, whoever you are, seriously think about leaving that written legacy behind. You might just find someone who really appreciates it.
We will be holding a massive party at the G749 farm on June 16th, fathers day, Mom and Dad's 68th wedding anniversary and details will be coming.
Get that autobiography started and build a cool truck for someone you appreciate now.......not later.
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