September 4, 2007. That the day I lost my dad it has been almost a year. He had a massive myocardial infarction that stopped his heart, we had chosen AND which is allow natural death instead of resuscitation we felt that he had suffered and he had already made his peace with god. That was not an easy choice to make cause he was my father and growing up till I was a teenager I only got to see him twice a month.
And as teenager I wasn't perfect and there were times when we disagreed but I always loved him just the same. There was a time when I was 16 that well we actually came to blows and I hit him right in the nose and broke it in tow places. But, that was not really my fault cause in the course of an arguement I turned to walk away and he grabbed my arm and spun me around and out of reflex I fired back. We didn't ever come to blows again after that. But, there was the time that he got angry with me and took all my plug wires off my car so I couldn't leave. Wel, he did finally put them back on the car. We didn't have a perfect father-son relationship but was as normal as most I imagine.
Later in life he would call me if I got too busy and hadn't called him to let him know that I was ok. He wouldn't let me go for too long without being in touch with him. He always called me his number one son. Which stands to reason as I was his only son. We did share somethings together that a father and son should share, I can honestly say that he raised me from the dead.
He was very well known around the county everyone knew Slim. He decided a few years to drive a school bus and he really enjoyed doing that for the school he spent a lot on field trips and sports for the school. That became one of his joys.
He loved all of his grandchildren and there were several. In fact a disagreement that arose between the two of us was over my children, that was a rift that lasted a few months he would still contact me though I was still upset that he thought I should have given my kids up to my ex. Then later when she had gotten custody he asked if I had heard from them. He loved all his grandkids and they loved him as well.
Daddy had suffered from Congestive Heart Failure and the last year of his life he had to be on oxygen. He had several stays in the hospital. Often there for a week or two at a time. The last time he was there they let him go home and right after getting home he had his first heart attack, and back to the hospital again. This time he was in ICU. The following day he had a massive infarction that took his life.
I will always love and miss my daddy. Though we had our ups and downs, he was always there to listen to me. And he make sure that he let me know that he thought of me and worried bout me.
There was one time when I was about 19 or 20 and stationed in California, I was home on leave and had been dating a girl in High Point, NC. It was just after Christmas and I went there to spend some time with her. I had a very old car that was not very fuel efficient and well for some reason I thought I was getting paid a day earlier than I was. Well on my way back to Georgia I ran short of money and I was trying to get back to see everyone before I had to fly back to California. Well I was in Gastonia NC and I called him to ask if he could wire me 40 dollars to get on back with. His answer was no, I'll see you tomorrow morning. He got up and drove 3 hours to Gastonia to meet me and told me to pull into the gas station and fill up my tank and he paid for it. And then gave me 20 dollars to get me some food. And followed me home. To me it would have been easier to have western union wire me the money but to him it was more about making I got home safely. To this day that is the one thing I will never forget was that he was determined to make sure I got home. That was my dad and no matter what he was there for me.
I will always love my dad and I miss him. He was not only a father but a brother too.
