Rest in Peace

My dad has battled cancer for months.

When I got news earlier this week that he had fallen at the nursing home where he was staying, I knew I should go home and see him this weekend. They moved him to a nice hospice in Williamsport. He had broken his hip, and the doctors said as sick as he was, the best they could do was keep him comfortable.

Matt, Mom and I went out to see him late yesterday afternoon. I honestly wasn't expecting much, but he was surprisingly coherant. We had a little bit of a conversation before he went off into his state of confusion. Mom helped to feed him some soup, and as he was rambling, he mentioned something to her about being ready to go.

I think she answered something about how he couldn't get up and go anywhere, he was in the hospital.

I tried not to cry because I was pretty sure that wasn't what he meant--I thought he meant he was ready to go.......well, you know.

This afternoon, we had lunch at mom's. Matt and I were going to go visit him before we headed back here to Blue Bell. We had lunch, packed our suitcase, and I went to the bathroom. Then the phone rang.

He was gone.

The nurses said he went very peacefully in his sleep. Said they talked to him this morning and he was incredibly coherant, he knew it was Sunday, and that it was September. He knew he was in the hospital. I guess he even managed to have a little breakfast. Then he started to get uncomfortable, and they found his lungs had fluid on them. They gave him some medicine to keep him comfortable, and eventually he fell asleep. They went to check on him around 2 I guess, and he was gone.

I'm glad you don't have to suffer anymore dad. I'll miss you.