He’s Gone

It’s after midnight as I write this. My dad passed away at 10:15 on Monday night.

I had planned on going home Monday afternoon but the nurse that checked him in the morning told us, when asked, that more than likely he would pass sometime within the next 12-24 hours. He made it about 14.

It was the strangest thing. He was taking longer between breaths, so long I would jump each time he finally took a deep breath. His breathing sounded more like a rattle. He had lost his ability to swallow so we thought it might be secretions that needed to be suctioned. He had been on a patch for that. So we called the nurse in and he gave him a few drops of a medication that could be absorbed and came back to suction him. He noted his hands seemed cold so he told us he would get him a blanket from the heating machine. The nurse came back with the blanket, laid it over him, and left the room.

And just like that my dad died. I don’t think Dad ever took another breath. We waited a few minutes to make sure and then I went to find the nurse again.

My. brothers are taking it very hard. I’m doing okay. As I said we weren’t that close but he was still my dad.

Tomorrow I return home. Burial will probably be Friday or Saturday.

There’s really nothing left to say.