He's gone

Less then 12 hours after I published my last post the phone rang.  Calls at 3:38 in the morning are never good, and this one was no different.  It was the hospital calling to tell me that my Dad had taken a turn for the worse; his heart had stopped, he wasn't breathing and that they were working on him.  I then had to make the phone call to my mother. That was the hardest call I ever had to make.  I then woke up her best friend to get her to go be with Mom and take her to the hospital.

By the time they got there Dad had died.

It was so unexpected.  I saw him on Sunday and he was doing better, sitting up, starting to move around.  So I flew home on Monday, knowing that my parents had lots of support from local friends to help them out when Dad got released.  When Mom visited on Monday and Tuesday he just continued to get better.  His catheter was removed, they started him on clear liquids and the OT was coming in to help him get up and walking. They were talking about a Sunday release date.  Mom visited until 7:00 PM Tuesday night and all was well.

The doctor's figure that a blood clot from the surgery got loose and traveled to his heart.  Mom chose not to have an autopsy, so that is as close to a definitive reason that we are going to get.

We had a small family viewing on Thursday for just Mom, Hilary, Liam and I and 3 family friends.   He was then cremated and in the spring we will spread his ashes at the cabin, his most favorite place in the world.

We spent the week with Mom, helping her with all the paper work and stuff that needed to be done.  Mostly though, we were just there to be with each other. 

My Dad and I had a difficult relationship over the years, but of late we had grown closer. I can't believe he is gone.  I will miss him.