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<\/a><\/div>\nOn April 3, at approximately 3:40 AM, my Dad took his last breath, and then peacefully died.\u00a0 He was surrounded by me, my sister, her husband, and my Mom.\u00a0 My wife was home with our children, who didn\u2019t need to see him like this.\u00a0 Alzheimer\u2019s had ravaged so much of who he was.\u00a0 In many ways, he had ceased to be Dad years ago.\u00a0 And yet, now that he\u2019s gone, I can\u2019t help but admit the chance for one more smile, one more \u2018take care of those boys\u2019, one more \u2018ho, ho, ho\u2019, would be worth millions.\u00a0 Yet for what he had to go through in that horrible disease to deliver such oases of memories, it\u2019s far better for him now that he has passed.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The end came suddenly.\u00a0 Only five or so weeks ago, he went into a nursing home.\u00a0 Though his mind was clearly declining, his physical health was strong.\u00a0 What turned around so quickly we don\u2019t know.\u00a0 But we do know that he is gone.\u00a0 So soon, it\u2019s difficult to process.\u00a0 I can fill my mind with all manner of therapeutic insights, thinking of how he never wanted to live the way he did at the end, that he will be in peace, that we will not have to suffer along with him \u2013 all of these have their place.\u00a0 But there are moments when it hits me: He is gone.\u00a0 That\u2019s it.\u00a0 No more chances.\u00a0 No more looking\u00a0for one last smile.\u00a0 That is done.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
He was a wonderful Dad.\u00a0 Not perfect.\u00a0 But wonderful.\u00a0 A Depression era father, he exemplified that era.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t complain, he didn\u2019t expect handouts, he accepted things as they were.\u00a0 He worked hard for the pride in a job well done.\u00a0 And he put everyone else ahead of him.\u00a0 He helped build a strong marriage by thinking of his wife before himself.\u00a0 He helped build a strong family by putting his children above himself.\u00a0 And he built a strong sense of worth by thinking of others and helping others and being there for others, even at the expense of himself.\u00a0 And he lived according to a simple faith and a set of ethics that trumped his own whims and fancies. Traits that have long since been dismissed by our leading thinkers and intellectuals of the day.\u00a0 But in him, I can see how wrong we are, and how right they were.\u00a0 For by bucking the latest psychobabble about loving\u00a0self above all things, Dad was everything I could ever have hoped a father would be.\u00a0 Again, not perfect.\u00a0 Nor did he feel the need to try to be perfect.\u00a0 He just did his best, and he did it for us.\u00a0 And for that, I\u2019ll miss him.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
So thanks for all the memories, the love, the hard work, the sacrifices.\u00a0 Thanks, Dad, that you simply worked your life to make sure we would have a better life than you did.\u00a0 May you find peace and comfort in the arms of Our Lord.\u00a0 St. Francis, pray for him. And I ask that God bless you, keep you, and let His perpetual light shine upon you.\u00a0 I\u2019ll miss you Dad.\u00a0 I love you.\u00a0 Goodbye for now.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On April 3, at approximately 3:40 AM, my Dad took his last breath, and then peacefully died.\u00a0 He was surrounded by me, my sister, her husband, and my Mom.\u00a0 My wife was home with our children, who didn\u2019t need to see him like this.\u00a0 Alzheimer\u2019s had ravaged so much of who he was.\u00a0 In many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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