I Miss My Dad

i miss my dad. he was a really neat guy. never met a stranger. he always had a nod or a word for most everybody he came in contact with. i guess that is where i get my core personality from.
dad died 4 years ago. he was 81 and up until 2 weeks before he dies, he was in good health to be his age. only 5 bypasses 10 years earlier and he lost a leg to an infection in his toe. minor diabetic too. he was not on insulin. he complained of his back and neck hurting and for him to complain, you knew he was in pain. mother took him to the doctor twice and even took him to the hospital which is a 5 minute drive. mid afternoon, march 17th, mother heard a loud noise and my father was motionless on the floor. he had tripped on his walker as he had not put his prosthesis on. she tried to roll him over and he was unconscious. she called 911 and they stayed on the phone until the paramedics got there. being so close to the hospital they were there within a few minutes. after the paramedics got there, they called for the advanced life support team. it took quite some time for them to stabilize him. one of the paramedics told my mother he was paralyzed before they put him on the gurney.
the loaded him in the ambulance and while they were working on him, my mother called me. i remember i was at work and when she called me, my knees buckled and i went to the floor. within 30 minutes of her call, i had gone home, packed my car and was on the road for the 5 hour drive. her call shook me so bad. i could tell she was so scared and hurting.
i got there about 9pm that night and he died 5 minutes into our 6pm icu visit the next day. i got to see him for about 5 minutes when i first arrived. i was walking down a hallway, lost, and just so happened they wheeled him by on the way to icu. i told him i loved him. that was the last time he was able to hear me.
tests showed when he fell, he broke his neck in 2 places. immediately he was in pain no longer. when his heart stopped, the team asked if he was dnr. i said i thought so. ultimately, i had to make the decision for them to stop. my mom was hurting so bad. her lifelong friend is dead. 2 years earlier, my brother died from renal cell carcinoma. in between, she had lost her sister. it had been a hard 3 years for her.
i say all this to say this: when i dropped the players off today at the gym, one of them was delayed getting off the bus. he seems to be a pretty well grounded guy. after about 5 minutes he got off the bus apologizing for the delay. he said he was talking to his dad and was apparently getting some advice. i told him no problem as i thought i sure wish i could talk to mine.
if your dad is still living, take a moment to call him if just to say hi. you never know if this may be your last chance.
until next time...