On Tuesday January 8th I received a call at work saying that Dennis’s dad was not doing well. Dennis got there first and sent a note saying it was OK not to leave work. But by then I had a sub coming in and I left anyway. Gary was in some pain and sitting up in a chair. Dennis went to the boys basketball game and I stayed. By the time the Hospice nurse left and Dennis and the boys came back, Gary was in a hospital bed with oxygen and low blood pressure. He began going in and out of sleep and the family stood watch. I was so impressed by all his grandkids. They would sit beside his bed, hold his hand and tell him they loved him. I am not sure I could do that at their age. My nephew Corbin was the “ringleader” and would tell them all, “talk to Papa, he can hear you”.
Once when the Hospice nurse was there, Corbin and Ryan listened to her every word and watched her check their Papa. When she asked if we had any questions, Ryan and Corbin asked a few. A friend of the family came up to me and told me to take a picture of all the kids around the bed, that it was the sweetest thing he had ever seen.
By Wednesday he was in a deep sleep and getting pain medication around the clock. He was in and out of consciousness for the next few days as we all rotated around his bedside. On Wednesday night he spoke to people and on Friday morning he asked for all his boys. He spoke to them and told him how proud he was of each of them. What a blessing for them. When Kenny said he was going to check the chickens, Gary actually raised his hand and looked at Sandra for permission to go! I hate to say that he was not able to go that last time.
Saturday morning as we sat around the living room visiting after the nurse had left, Dennis noticed a change in his facial expression. He motioned for us all to come around the bed and shortly after, Gary took his last breath. Within the hour, people began doing what we do best in the South…helping their family and friends in a time of need. People came to console the family and bring more food. We had several men who quickly took down the hospital bed and moved all of the furniture back to the right spot. Friends and family helped clean out the refrigerator and set up tables for the food coming in. We had not had to cook since Tuesday when church members and friends began visiting and bringing meals.
The hospice nurses were WONDERFUL. The funeral home people were so nice. Our church family were angels on Earth. Everyone we met within the next week was so great to us. Dennis said, “How do we properly Thank all these wonderful people?”. I told him that you just say Thank you every time you see them..that here in a small town in the South, no one expects anything more. I heard more than once, “I know you would do the same for me” and they are right!
We were all cooped up together for over a week and we had some really good laughs as well. We had a great time looking at old pictures for the slide show Dennis and I made. We laughed at old hair dos and clothes the kids could not believe we wore. We picked on Sandra for keeping old envelopes and condiment packets. We tricked Dennis that we were going put a big chicken made out of flowers for the casket blanket. In the end the flowers we chose were beautiful, the slide show was wonderful and we all got along…we did pass around a few germs and all took turns feeling a bit yucky.
We have not officially counted but there were over 300 at the viewing and over 200 at the funeral. What a tribute to a wonderful man. Many were friends of Dennis, Kenny and Brent’s who thought of Gary as a father. The funeral itself was very moving. The grandkids wrote letters to their Papa and they were placed in a special drawer in the casket.
Regena, Gary’s niece, shared very special memories of her uncle. Dennis spoke about the many wonderful things he had heard about his father over the last week.
Our current pastor and our previous pastor gave wonderful speeches and Connie, a friend from church, sang 2 beautiful songs.
One of which has these lyrics:
Our prayers have all been answered
I finally arrived
The healing that had been delayed
Has now been realized
No one's in a hurry
There's no schedule to keep
We're all enjoying Jesus
Just sitting at His feet
If you could see me now
I'm walking streets of gold
If you could see me now
I'm standing tall and whole
If you could see me now
You'd know I've seen His face
If you could see me now
You'd know the pain is erased
You wouldn't want me
To ever leave this place
If you could see me now
We will miss Gary every day and this year will be hard on us. But we have a wonderfully close family, great friends. a loving church family and enough paper towels, paper plates, cups, napkins and even toilet paper to last awhile!
Thank You to each and every one of you who visited, called, sent messages, cards, flowers and plants; brought food and paper products and prayed for us. We will never be able to express how wonderful it made us feel.
All of the grandkids by themselves and with Sandra. They cleaned up pretty well!
Of all the pictures we looked at over the past week, this was my favorite. Gary loved to fish. This was taken within the last few months. Hopefully he has found a “honey hole” in Heaven!
. Anyway it is December 26th and I have nothing to do. Preston and Grant had basketball practice and Dennis had to work part of the day so Ryan and I watched movies and (he) rode the new dirt bike….YES, a dirt bike. Never thought I would say this but my boys got a dirt bike for Christmas…. and a helmet!
