Passing of a great man
I'm sitting in my mother in law's house, one of many family members, as we prepare to honor our father. Becki's dad passed away at about 3:00pm Wednesday afternoon. He had been sick for awhile but we did not expect things to go so bad so quickly. He went in for a biopsy on October 7th. He never made it back home.
He had not been eating well for weeks. After the biopsy he was held in the hospital due to some complications. Then he was moved to a rehab facility because he was too weak to walk unassisted. Soon after that he was put in a nursing home. Dementia began to set in. He sometimes forgot who we were. The biopsy showed that he was in the last stages of cancer of the liver. Then the pain set in. We couldn't even hold his hand without causing him to cry out in pain. We had to make the call for hospice. That was on Sunday. We are all thankful to the hospice & nursing home staff. Thanks to them dad's last days were peaceful.
Yes he was only my father in law in a legal sense. In real life he & I were as close as a real father & son in some ways. He always seemed to have the ability to sense when I needed to hear something. Many times he would directly address something that was troubling me that I had not yet talked to him about.
Becki was daddy's girl. He was quite protective of her. It took me close to two years to earn his respect. Once he realized that I was committed to her, I was his favorite.
He was a swimmer. He won a race swimming across the Mississippi from Alton Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri. He was a soldier. Like my dad he served in the 82nd Airborne. He was a firefighter, both paid and volunteer. Above all of that he was a father. The legal title of Stepfather was not used by Becki or her siblings. He was just dad. He left behind 8 kids, 31 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren. While I am not in that official count, he left this son behind as well. Love you Daddy.
He had not been eating well for weeks. After the biopsy he was held in the hospital due to some complications. Then he was moved to a rehab facility because he was too weak to walk unassisted. Soon after that he was put in a nursing home. Dementia began to set in. He sometimes forgot who we were. The biopsy showed that he was in the last stages of cancer of the liver. Then the pain set in. We couldn't even hold his hand without causing him to cry out in pain. We had to make the call for hospice. That was on Sunday. We are all thankful to the hospice & nursing home staff. Thanks to them dad's last days were peaceful.
Yes he was only my father in law in a legal sense. In real life he & I were as close as a real father & son in some ways. He always seemed to have the ability to sense when I needed to hear something. Many times he would directly address something that was troubling me that I had not yet talked to him about.
Becki was daddy's girl. He was quite protective of her. It took me close to two years to earn his respect. Once he realized that I was committed to her, I was his favorite.
He was a swimmer. He won a race swimming across the Mississippi from Alton Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri. He was a soldier. Like my dad he served in the 82nd Airborne. He was a firefighter, both paid and volunteer. Above all of that he was a father. The legal title of Stepfather was not used by Becki or her siblings. He was just dad. He left behind 8 kids, 31 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren. While I am not in that official count, he left this son behind as well. Love you Daddy.