"A Gift From God"

My wife's father is very sick. He lives in St Petersburg, Florida and is in the Veterans' Hospital. My wife spent all last week there with him. He was alert and aware of everything and they had a great visit. Today she got a call that he had taken a turn for the worse so tomorrow morning she will fly to St Pete again.

I reminded her today of what a great visit she had with her father last week. She had told me how much they reminisced and how much they had laughed. I told her I thought that was God's gift to her.

Terry's dad being sick brought back memories of my father's last days. Daddy had always been a big robust man. He always got a lot of physical exercise and looked healthy. Then toward the end of his life my stepmother became concerned about his weight. He was diabetic and she worried about what kind of food he ate. As a result he got smaller and smaller, thinner and thinner.

I think people look healthier when they have some weight on them and Daddy's loss of weight worried me. But I was not his caregiver, my stepmother was. She was always telling me that Daddy didn't really have an appetite any more, but when we took them out to eat he ate everything on his plate.

The last time I saw him we had gone to Clinton for a visit. His memory had become spotty but on this day he knew me and Terry both. He asked about our sons, JJ and Sean, and also about our grandchild. He was pretty much with it all afternoon. When we got ready to leave I kissed him on his head and told him I loved him. He told me he loved me too.

My stepmother Florence walked us out to our car but while we were standing there talking Daddy came to the back door. Florence went up the back steps to see what he wanted. When she came back down she said, "He just wanted ya'll to know he loves you."

That was the last time I saw him alive. He died the next week. Someone asked me later if I had a chance to say goodbye. In a way I did. I had those few hours with him and I think they were a gift from God. It was one of the closest times we had had for a long time. I always felt my stepmother stood in the middle of my father and me. From the time they married there was a line between me and them.

But on that last day the line was crossed. Somehow Daddy and I connected. Maybe he knew the end was near and he reached out to me one last time. Or maybe God just wiped that line away for us.

I think Terry had a wonderful visit with her father last week. Whether or not he will know her this week is an unknown. He is very sick and is basically drugged up and sleeping. Still I hope she knows she can always remember that last visit she had and the great communication between them. It was her gift from God. At least that is what I think.
 

 

 

 

 

©2007 Jackie K. Cooper

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