I suppose I should explain that after 12 years of battling cancer, multiple treatments and chemo-therapies; my father decided to go home on hospice Tuesday afternoon. Ella & I flew to Oklahoma early Wednesday morning to be here with him. We has a lovely evening last night. He played with Ella, talked to all of us and made his wishes known. He is at peace with this decision. And we are all at peace too. We know that God has great plans for him in Heaven.
This morning my sister, mom and I were going through old pictures and remembering family vacations. I had a pretty darn good childhood, I can tell you that. Lots of precious moments that I took for granted because I thought we would relive them again. I will try not to take any moments for granted anymore. I'll hug Miss Ella a little tighter tonight. And I'll thank the Lord for all of the blessings in my life.
So today I dedicate my blog to my dad, Jeffrey Smith. Thank you for being the amazing man, father, husband, and grandfather that you are. I will Love you forever and will see you again one day in Heaven.
This made me cry. I am so glad you can focus on the positive and wonderful years you have had with your dad. God's plans don't always make sense but He is with you and your dad and will take such great care of him once he leaves this earth. You have given your dad so much joy-especially in giving him his first grandchild! I can't imagine how you are feeling right now, nor how hard this must be. But your trust in God will help you through.
ReplyDeleteOh, Jenny, my heart hurts for you and all members of your family! What a lovely tribute to your father this was and how fortunate you are to have the time to say what needs to be said and spend this time together. In the end, it is not power, wealth, material things, success or any of the things we may have thought were important along the journey. At the end of life it boils down to relationships; who we loved and who loved us. And knowing that God loves us all and hurts along with us when we must part from those we love. I'm so glad he got to spend time with sweet Ella. Hugs, Cindy Ellison
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny,
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your Dad. I just found your blog through the Hip Mamas group (I'm on there under Kelly J - always intending to get to a meetup but we nanny for another baby most mornings!) I lost my Dad this past May, when I was 29 - it made me feel so old and like a sad little girl at the same time. You're right, we have to try to be thankful for the time we had, but it's hard. Anyway welcome to Minneapolis and maybe we'll meet up soon.