tinkr.net

So I was going to blog about how great my Dad was doing in hospice. Those nurses were so great. He was doing so great that they sent him home. We were going to have Easter dinner with him at home.

Then on Good Friday he suddenly passes away.

It was a little shocking. We thought he had a little more time since he was doing so well. We spent Easter weekend planning his funeral.

While funerals suck, it does feel good that we gave him the exact funeral he would have wanted. He was in the navy so he had a full military funeral. It was pretty great actually. One of his shipmates gave the eulogy. It was so great and almost bummed me out that I didn’t join the navy. The camaraderie that fellow shipmates have is something else. Lots of great stories are now lost with my Dad. We had a police escort to the cemetery. Seeing the cops and navy personnel saluting my Dad was something else. It was a really great way to say goodbye. I miss him, I’m proud of him, and we said goodbye the way he would have wanted.

Bird feeder update: still covered in snow. The snow bank along the street is over my head. It warmed up to 14° today though, so it’s days are numbered.

This past weekend was my first weekend home in a while. The previous two I spent with my Dad in the hospice center in Sioux Falls. His original prognosis was 3-10 days, so I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. Now they are saying 4-6 weeks. I thought it would be good for both of us to have a weekend to ourselves. He’s been having a ton of visitors and they kind of tire him out. As of now my plan is to spend every other weekend there. If he happens to pass in between my time there I would be ok with. I feel I’ve said my goodbyes. In fact I’ve said them too much. It kills be every weekend when I have to head back home. I am looking forward to being back down there this coming weekend.

Yesterday I got that call that I’ve kind of been expecting these last few years. I got the call that my Dad is going under hospice care. My Dad’s health has really gone downhill these last few years. He had multiple myeloma and had a stem cell transplant seven years ago. While the transplant bought him seven more years, they weren’t the best of years. If it wasn’t only thing it was another. He seemed to be constantly spending time in the hospital. So while it’s horrible that he is in his final few weeks, it will be nice to not see him suffer too.

Tomorrow we are heading down to see him. I’m kind of scared to see him. I don’t know what to say to him. How do I leave him for the last time? I think it was almost easier with my Mom. By the time we got to the hospital she was just being kept alive by machines. I didn’t say goodbye because I assumed she didn’t know we were there. I was the one that had to tell the doctors to turn off the machines. That was probably the hardest thing I ever had to do. I don’t know what to expect this weekend.

2019 will be my orphan year. Shortly I will no longer have any parents or grandparents left. I already feel lonely even through I’m surrounded my family.

Well I survived another trip around the Sun. It was a pretty uneventful birthday. Unlike number 40 which was spent at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, and number 41 which was spent watching the Broncos win the Super Bowl. We had plans to go out for dinner, but nobody else wanted to go out in the blizzard. I didn’t even leave the house on my 44th birthday, but I did blow snow twice.

It’s been a crazy week. If you were watching the Vikings game closely last Sunday, you would have seen me. I was in the second row with my orange #77 Karl Mecklenburg jersey on.

A few hours after we got home our dog Kingslie collapsed and became very lethargic, so we brought her into the emergency vet. She had a tumor on her spleen that ruptured. We opted to spend four grand on surgery to remove her spleen, because how could you not?

The surgery really took a lot out of her. She’s been sleeping all week. It’s been a struggle to get her to eat, but she is getting a little better every day.

The tumor ended up being benign, so that’s a good thing. The vet said that doesn’t guarantee that it’s not cancerous, but it’s better than if it was cancerous.

This weekend we are doing Christmas as my families. We are all heading to my brother’s house in Minneapolis. Sadly my dad isn’t doing so well, so he’s not going to be able to travel. We are leaving today so we can spend a little time at my Dad’s in South Dakota before heading to my Brother’s house on Saturday. It should be a good time, but it’s just not the same without my Mom around.

My Sister-in-Law bought my brother Vikings tickets for Christmas because they are playing his favorite team the Dolphins. She doesnt want to go, so there is a good chance I’ll end up going with him. They are really good seats, second row 50 yard line I think. I haven’t been to the new Vikings stadium yet, so that will be cool. It’ll be my seventh NFL stadium to see a game in. I’m also getting spoiled by the good seats after seeing the Broncos from the third row in Arizona earlier this year. I really like traveling to other cities to see their stadiums.