Goodbye Dad

 

Last Wednesday was a gorgeous day outside. The day progressed as any normal Wednesday, I did the grocery shopping (so Dad could take advantage of the Senior Discount), Dad helped me put things away, and our day moved on as usual, I went to work and Dad stopped in twice that day to have a cup of coffee, and we had a nice turkey dinner. After dinner, I gave him his evening eye drop and as I headed into the other room to cut some things for customers on the computerized cutter, he said he was headed out to the shed to do his exercises. (He had his knee re-replaced several years ago, and he still had difficulties with it. He often did stretching exercises he learned at the physical therapist. He had set-up an exercize spot in his former wood shop.) 

The cutter is a noisy machine and I cannot always hear things going on elsewhere in the house.  When I was finished, I went into my room. I could hear the tv on in the sunroom, as is normal. I fell asleep early that evening with my tv still on. I awoke around 1:00 am to use the bathroom and noticed the light over the stove still on. He would periodically forget to turn it off as he went to bed.

In the morning, I went out to the kitchen to get my breakfast. Dad was not up yet, but once in a while he would sleep in. I then went out to the sunroom to open the blinds and that is when I saw his rollator.  He used the rollator at night so if he needed to go to the bathroom, it was steadier for a sleepy person who is a bit unsteady on their feet. As soon as I saw that it was still in the sunroom, I started franitcally calling his name. I looked in his bedroom and the bathroom. He was nowhere in the house. I ran out the door and found him lying on the ground at the door to the shed. He was not breathing.

My next instinct was to call my sister, who lives a couple of blocks away. She arrived and called 911. 

Thankfully the coroner said that he had had a heart attack and was deceased prior to falling. That helped my mind a little, knowing that although his body, unbeknownst to me, was out there all night long, he was not suffering. He had not suffered at all. His death was instant.

My world is turned upside down. I don't know how I am going to make ends meet. I don't know how the house will be once all of my siblings have gone to their respective homes. The funeral is tomorrow and the last of the out-of-town family leaves Sunday.