My 74 year old father's body is dying -

haele

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Wed Jul-20-11 06:58 PM
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My 74 year old father's body is dying -

Last wednesday, he suffered a moderate stroke, but it looked as if he was going to recover. As he and Mom live a couple states away, I made arrangements for Laz and me to take off Friday and go help Mom set up for a month or so that he would be in the rehab hospital and for the change in him.

On the 12 hour drive out Friday, she called - he suffered a second massive stroke, and most of his brain was gone. With a congenital heart problem, it was only a matter of time.
:cry:

He was a man who was still so very active - a retired Navy Chief who worked as an ombudsman for ESGR (Employer's Support for Guard and Reserve), volunteered for the Navy League and the local NOSC; a retired teacher with a Master's Degree in Far East History, who tutored history, sociology, and literature for both gifted and at risk students, a member of the local Democratic Committee who helped with GOTV efforts in his community. For many years, he was a high school coach for a team that more times than not, won their AA division championship.
Early in his life, he was active in the YMCA as a wrestling coach and youth counselor, and was one of the youngest Elders in the Presbyterian Church at the age of 20. Even though he drifted from religion as time went on, he kept much of the drive to create and improve community that he learned while he was a member - to him, Church was never so much about God, it was about Community.
He loved Monty Python and opera, Stan Freiburg and Howard Zinn. His hobbies were home and car repair, and historical research. I remember he had a comic book "Super LBJ", that he picked up while he was taking Poli-Sci courses and finishing up his certificate in Education at Berkley in 1965/66. And he gently answered my questions as to why the end of it was so horrible, explaining the Viet-Nam war for me.
When Mom was getting her degree in Central American Anthropology, he would go on digs with her, just for the fun of it.
He got one of the first Microsoft Certifications for computer administration, and afterwards used that certification to leverage developing one of the first high school computer training centers for his high school.
He loved trains, and planes and ships. While I was growing up He collected model trains and built tabletop dioramas - and then donated them to the
He went to China as an exchange teacher in the late 1980's, and last year, he and Mom took another trip to Japan and China as a summer treat.
I'm back, tracking down sources to complete his final wishes - a Navy burial at sea. My brother and me spent the last few days with Mom gathering records and ensuring she won't have any unnecessary problems trying to sort out the situation. The fine sailors and other volunteers that he was working with prior to his stroke are helping out to make sure that his passing and the transition would be simple and as painless to Mom as possible.

He loved life and helping people so much. And he died Friday, even though his body is still lingering, slowly shutting down. The doctors expected he would pass Sunday Night, but it's as if it is a testament to his inner strength, his need to be active that the body still lingers.

Good night Dad. Fair Winds and Following Seas.

Haele