My Dad

My dad passed away on April 6th after his 25 year battle with Parkinson's disease.  He was a good good man.  My dad was a pure disciple of Christ.  You couldn't even stand in line at the grocery store with him without knowing he had a testimony of the Savior. He loved to share the gospel.

He has had a very slow progression of his disease until these last few years and especially the last few months.  About a year ago my dear mom and sister who took care of him from home realized it was becoming too difficult to give him the proper care.  He was placed in an assisted living facility where he resided for 10 months.  He was not happy and totally frustrated with his loss of independence. We would visit him and every Sunday pick him up for church and family dinner.  He seemed to enjoy his time with us yet had lost his zeal for life. His disease had then progressed even more and he needed more direct care so 2 months ago he was moved to a much smaller facility with very compassionate loving care.  With this move I think he was just so tired and heartbroken.  He stopped eating, became very difficult to understand verbally and was disoriented.  Zac and I  and Ellie would visit him during his lunch break.  He had so much trouble communicating but was mesmerized by our sweet Ellie as he watched her explore the room. He would even manage to give her small tickle with his toe in her belly.

It is such a mixed feeling to have him gone.  He was so miserable there at the end and his body was done fighting all the difficulties associated with his disease that you have to rejoice in the knowledge that he is free from that.  He is reunited with our Savior the one he testified of every single day.  He is joining loved ones that have passed on before and engaging in a glorious work of this gospel.  That tired weak body is now perfected and whole and he can easily continue in his missionary efforts.  I know that there is much joy in this but it still feels so sad. 

Here are a few fun memories of my dad.  He was mr. post it note. Growing up there would be various notes everywhere.  Often signed "the management." Such as on the linen closet door "Please use towels at least three times before sending to the laundry room. The management." But my all time favorite of these notes was on the dashboard of his car that said "Keep your eyes on the road at all times." Difficult to do if you are reading his note:)

He was always quite the salesman.  At a young age growing up in Gainesville he was always exploring new ways to make a profit.  He told us of the time he bought a ton of ponchos from the army surplus store.  Then outside the Florida gator football stadium he quickly sold all those ponchos for a profit.  He was feeling pretty good about his new found fortune until the sun came out and he noticed the plastic was melting into all the ladies bouffant hair. He said he ran out of there pretty fast.

The last week or so leading up to his death I felt a few spiritual promptings to be doing more for him.  Simple things like pray more fervently for him specifically, bring my camera with us on our visit, or my thoughts would turn to him as a poem was being read by a general authority about life and coming to know our Savior better.  I wish I had acted better on these promptings.  In retrospect they were preparing me for this and even though he was so sick and his body was obviously failing him it still felt sudden.  I hope I can learn from this to heed to those promptings and make them ones of action.

The funeral service was a true celebration of his life.  My brother Gary spoke, sister Melissa, Zac and brother in law Bob all spoke.  Their remarks were filled with humor as well as a spiritual reverence.  I feel torn sometimes knowing he had a great life and then seeing his health decline so drastically in the last few years.  With our faith I also know that he is busy at work doing what he loves so I feel like I shouldn't feel so sad with this understanding.

I love my dad.  He will be missed.  I have to find peace in his new home and refocus my efforts to be the missionary he is.  I am so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and the knowledge I have that he is busy at work again.  That we will be an eternal family.  That to him it will be but a blink of an eye until we are all together again.