~My Father

When you know better you do better.~ Dad

Today's the day: the day of your twenty-fifth class reunion. As you look at yourself in the mirror, you admire the insignia's on your uniform and what they mean that you've accomplished. A Colonel in the Army, everyone will be surprised. As you admire yourself in the mirror you realize, "Dang, I forgot my hat!" but, oh well, you stayed in the hotel last night so you can’t go all the way back home and get it. You get in the elevator and ride down to the lobby. As the elevator doors open, an older gentleman stands in front of the doors with a big smile on his face and says, "Hey man, you forget your hat?" The older gentleman was my father and that is my favorite story about him because it exemplifies his character and is just one example of the type of father he was.

My dad passed in November 2005 from COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. COPD encompasses both chronic bronchitis and emphysema that damages the air sacs in your lungs and makes it difficult to breathe. The disease progresses with the patient being oxygen dependent until they slowly succumb to the disease. It was hard for me to watch a man who had been "present" in everything that he did in life to not be able to walk a few steps without being out of breath. My father had been both father and mother to me for over twenty years. However, this time I couldn't be selfish and want him to stay here with me when he was living with the feeling of not being able to breathe. On November 2, 2005 I had let him go. Reluctantly, but I let him go.