On Mother's Day I got a call from my sisters saying that my Dad was in the hospital. Each day I would call to check on him and every day it seemed more things were wrong. Wednesday evening, May 11th, I got a call in the evening from my Mom. She said my Dad's blood pressure had dropped and they thought he would die that night. My family was there, except me. I cried and cried that night, because I wanted to be there with my family to say good bye to my Dad. Corbin got tickets to fly to Utah the next afternoon. When I called the next morning they said my Dad was doing better. He was still critical, but his blood pressure was up. We flew out Thursday morning. My family decided to remove all life support that day and we weren't sure how long he would survive. We were about 10 minutes from the hospital and my sister called to say that my Dad had died. Corbin dropped me off and took the kids to my sisters. My mom and sisters were around the hospital bed when I arrived. The first thing I wanted to do was hold my Dad's hand. His left hand is missing the ring finger and was obviously unique to him. I guess I wanted to make sure that was still the same. It was after midnight and the hospital was quiet, except for room 333. We were all laughing and telling stories about Dad. Finally around 2:00 we thought we should go home and get some rest.
On Monday we drove to Mt. Carmel. I went to Kanab to help my family dress Dad for the viewing. That evening we had a family viewing and burned the brand on his casket. Everyone told stories about things they remembered about Dad. I told about how Dad would bring home doggy lambs for me to feed. We would keep them in a box by the stove to keep them warm and I would give them warm cow's milk several times during the day and night. I guess Dad thought this was something I was good at, because I seemed to be the family member how always got this job.
Tuesday was the funeral. I got a chance to see so many people that I had not seen in a long time. It was really good to find-out where people were at and what they were doing. Ann, Eric, and Kline talked. They all did a great job. We buried Dad in the Mt.Carmel cemetry under a pine tree facing the mountains. I think Dad will like this spot.
The rest of my family had to go back home after the funeral, but Corbin and I were able to stay with my Mom for a couple of days. It was nice for me to spend some time with my Mom. I have often felt like I didn't know what to do for the family when someone dies, but having my Dad die has helped me see how to help others. People were so kind to our family. People provided food, cards, kind words, flowers, hugs, and telephone calls. All of them were appreciated. We will miss Dad, but I know he is happy where he is at.
