The last to weeks, needless to say, have been the worst of my life. For those of you who have not heard, my dad died on March 22nd of complications from diabetes. I found out mid-flight from Phoenix to Philadelphia.
There is almost a feeling of guilt. I keep saying to myself "I should have been there", but there was nothing I could do. On the list of worst days of my life, on a scale of one to 10, this was easily a 20.
It’s a sad fact to think of now that Dad passing is what brought the family back together, Aunts and Uncles which i haven’t seen in 10 to 15 years I was able to see again, and my sister, who I have not seen since 1999, I was able to see again. This was the first time that my brother, me, and my sister have been in the same house at the same time since 1995.
Dad was buried under a 75 year old oak tree and Whitemarsh Memorial Park on March 29th, 2008. He had fought for years against the ravages of diabetes and the effects of a quadruple bypass heart surgery in 1990, in Florida. He beat the odds every time, but couldn’t rally this time.
To make things worse, our good family friend, Rick, who had come up from Florida for the funeral, received a call the day of the funeral that his 8 year old son has passed away. I cannot imagine the pain he must be going through, but he is in our thoughts, as is his family.
You know, they say time heals all things. For me, I’m ok, getting on with things. For others, I hope the saying proves to be true. It’s a long hard road, to be sure. But we’ll all get there, in time.
