I don't remember exactly when we found out Dad was sick. He had to make the decision to either treat his cancer at the age of 89, or leave it alone and enjoy his last days. The decision was easy for him. He decided to treat it so that he could stay around for Mom. Besides that, he survived cancer 20 years earlier. When the four of us girls found out he would go through treatment, we knew we had to take shifts to be with him and to help him through radiation and oral chemo. Mom was 90 and the doctors said she should not be driving him every day to his treatments and would not be strong enough to help Dad. Mom thought she was the strongest woman in the world and would be able to do everything but the thought of us girls coming to stay for weeks at a time was appealing to her. This photo is my Dad when he was young. Not sure when this was taken.
We each took two week shifts. My sisters Jo and Sherry had the first four weeks and the reports were good. Even though the radiation was making him tired, he seemed to be getting stronger. When he needed to walk, he could sometimes do it on his own using a walker. When it was my shift, he was already into a daily routine which made it easy for me. He spent most of his time in his recliner in the bedroom napping and watching television. I always made it a point to sit with him during Jeopardy, our favorite show to watch together. I would sit on a bench with the bedroom window behind me. That is when I learned about the bird. The bird story will come at a later time.
A day before I was to leave, my dad started going downhill. No appetite and wasn't able to keep anything down. He looked at me once and asked, "What am I going to do without you?". I explained that my sister Mary was coming. Mary lives in the same town, Davenport, and my Dad was relieved to hear she would be staying overnight with them during her shift.
Dad was very athletic. This is just one of his favorite sports.
After I drove back to Georgia, Mary would keep us updated during her first week shift. Towards the end of the week, I received her phone call stating she and Mom were calling in Hospice. They didn't think it would be much longer. I couldn't believe it. My sister Sherry from Wisconsin came to stay with Mom and Mary. When they met with the hospice nurse, the nurse asked Sherry to get a blanket to put under Dad for comfort. Sherry grabbed one from the closet, not paying attention to what it was and they made him comfortable. He was still joking when they kissed him goodnight. Dad passed on March 27th, 2016 a year ago today. When my mom and sisters woke that morning, they found he had passed peacefully in his sleep.
This is a picture of the blanket my Dad died on.
If you remember, March 27th 2016 was Easter Sunday.
If you want to hear the eulogy at my Dad's funeral, to know more about him go to this website and it starts around the 2:25 mark.
http://www.edwards-ucc.org/media/2016-03-31_Ned_Walling.mp3
What a great Dad!
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