Blogger Backgrounds

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The One I Don't Want to Write


I've been really quiet lately for good reason. The last month and a half have been really hard. I've had the flu followed by a cold, Pirate Baby has had the same cold, and Surfer Pirate has been struggling with some of his own health issues.

But the hardest by far happened on February 26, 2011. A very special man was called Home to his Heavenly Father.

When my mother was in college, she met and fell in love with a very sweet and funny man. Differences in priorities led them in different directions. They both moved on, married, had children and went through divorces. More than 3 decades later, he found her on their college alumni association website, and they communicated via email for a few years. In 2000, they decided to "grow up and get married." So in June 2000, this great man became an official member of our family.

Dad loved his family more than anything in the world. They were everything to him. I felt honored that he considered me as much his daughter as his own daughters. He took great joy in his grandchildren and loved spending time with them. He stepped into the role of our family patriarch with the wisdom and respect that the job entailed. We were all greatly blessed to have his love and support.

He also loved God. Serving the Lord and learning more about His plan for him were very dear to his heart.

His other great love was fishing. He looked forward to getting out there and catching the biggest salmon in the river. You can see the pure pleasure in his face in the above picture - fishing and spending time with his oldest grandson.

In 2005, a major heart issue left him paralyzed. Once he recovered, he never let it slow him down. He was always coming up with ways he could do things he'd previously done, just with his wheelchair. Even fishing. He was very excited when he found a place he could fish from his chair.

His heart continued to give him problems through the years. This winter, it finally was too worn out. His last days in this world were spent with family.


And I can't write any more than that because my heart can't take it. His loss is deeply felt in our family and we feel privileged to have known, loved and been loved by him. I miss you Dad.

1 comments:

Druceal said...

sending a huge hug!