Upwards Journey Taken

I arrived in Alaska without any mishaps. Drove straight to the Mat-Su Regional Hospital with my brother where we checked in on our parents. My dad was doing fairly well and my mom was tired but glad to see us both. She had been sleeping on a little cot right in his room...refused to leave him! :-)

The following day, I drove back to the hospital by myself and found out that my mom had collapsed in my dad's bathroom...hitting her head on the tile floor. I spent the afternoon with her in ER, where the medical staff ran all kinds of tests, etc. It turned out to be a stress-overload. As soon as my brother and I arrived, her body had stopped being in care-giver mode and just called a "time-out". She had quite a shiner and was very embarrassed!

The next couple of days went well, then on Tuesday night, my dad took another nose dive (healthwise). The following day, I cornered the doctor and nurse practitioner who told me directly that my dad was "actively dying". I realized that neither one of my parents realized what was happening, so took my mom out into the hall and broke the news. She just wrung her hands and said, "Oh, your poor dad! Oh, your poor dad!" She made the decision to not tell him.

He was NOT up to being moved on Wednesday, but the hospital staff said that there was nothing more to be done and that he could go home.

My brother, Pete, drove them up to Talkeetna (60 miles) on Thursday, and I followed behind with another friend of the family to stop and buy some much-needed groceries for the house.

We had a hospital bed delivered to the house on Friday and my dad was much more comfortable, although he couldn't stay awake for any length of time at all. He would wake up and wonder out loud, "What's the matter with me? Why can't I stay awake?" At one point, he woke up and asked me, "Lucy, am I still here?"

Friday night, he woke up--ate a very good meal, talked a bit--knew exactly what was going on and who everyone was. That night, I heard him tossing around, so got up with him about 1 am. His covers were all in disarray and I calmed him down, told him that I loved him and that everything was ok--then straightened out his blankets--he responded to my voice and said that he was ready to go back to sleep.

My mom got up about 3:30 am and he was in a big mess again. She washed him up, soothed him and then felt prompted to put her hands on his head and recite Psalm 121.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul.

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

At that point, he sighed happily and went back to sleep.

When I woke up at 8 am, I went out to see him, but he had left to be with his Lord and Savior! Am I sad? Yes! Am I happy for him? Yes! Do I wish that I would have had longer? Yes! But, God has appointed each one of us a time to die and I'm more than thankful that He allowed me to go home and be there for this amazing journey that my dad went on ahead of all of us! I realized at one point that I had NO regrets! Everything that needed to be said had been said--on both our parts.

A friend of my parents summed it all up in one of their cards by saying, "I stomp, I cheer, I shout as George raises his hands in victory!" What a picture! Standing in heaven, seeing the Lord face-to-face for the very first time ever and raising hands in victory!

So, I stomp, I cheer, I cry, and I shout knowing that my dad has passed out of this time and is in the most amazing place of all! Can't wait to go see him! But, guess I'll stick around for awhile longer! :-)