Don't know why, but, just working away in the shop this morning and my Dad popped into my head.
A bunch of old memories, times we spent together, times we got along, times we didn't.

He has been gone less than a year.  I still get saddened when I think of him.  So many opportunities that were missed.  Mostly all my own fault.

He was a great guy.  Not much education, just common sense and the desire to try and improve.

Definitely one of the "Heroes of the Country"

I hadn't seen the girls for several years, but, I had the chance at Mom's place last weekend.

Tessa brought Nicole (her younger sister) and her baby, Fiona, out for a visit.

Kind of cool to see my Mom holding her great-grandchild.

And "Awesome Lady"

The two girls, Nicole is holding Fiona, Tessa is the young lady in black

Their mother has passed away.  A work accident involving a helicopter crash. 
As a very young lady, Tessa had to make the decision regarding the life support.  There had been significant brain damage and the prognosis was very, very bad.  A difficult decision that she dealt with better than most of the people that I know.

Over the years, I would be willing to wager that not a single day goes past without them crossing my mind.

Wonderfully hot weather the last little while.

Been very nice.  Not much interesting happening for me right now. 

Definitely tired of working, wish I could retire, but, income would be a problem.  Should have listened to my parents, that would have put me in, say, 10% of kids??

Can't really complain though.  Still have not a bad life. 

I still think of Bev, pretty much every day.  I certainly did not give her my best effort.  She certainly tried harder than I. 

I am very grateful for the "Awesome Lady" in my life now.  It has been a long and twisty journey to get to here.

So nothing really new.

Tess, my eldest daughter, has had a baby girl.  Named Fiona, a delightful name.

I haven't seen Tess, or her sister Nicole, for quite some time. I am hoping that I can get to see them sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Their mother passed away some time ago, in a work related accident.  Both of them have done well for themselves, no thanks to me.  Even after all this time, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of them at some time during the day.

Somethings just cannot be made right.

In memory of my Dad

In Memory of my Dad, 

Ray.

One of the Heroes of the Country

Probably taken about 55 years ago

Taken about 6 years ago

So, it happened last Tuesday evening.  My Dad, Ray, passed away.

He had been bed-ridden for over a year, he seemed to be fading away a little at a time.
Up until a few weeks ago he could at least participate in a short conversation, at the end he could hardly murmur.

Fortunately it was very peaceful, he had his hands crossed on his chest, and just went to sleep.

His father came into Canada from Nebraska.  Time and date totally unknown, I  suspect he merely walked into Manitoba and kept going until he found a place he liked.  In this case Petersfield.  His Mom I know virtually nothing about, except that she passed away shortly after he was born.  His Dad passed away about 40 years ago.

Dad's family, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins were all farmers in the Petersfield/Selkirk area.  Up until last year, there had been someone, from the family, living on the "Home" farm for over 100 years.  All of Dad's contemporaries are now deceased.  Even out here, on the coast, he has out-lived three entire sets of friends.

Dad was born shortly after WW1, he grew up in the "dust bowl" times, the Depression times, and the war times.  He did not have an easy life.  There was not much to go around, his Dad had to work like a mad man just to keep a roof over their heads.  He had very little supervision in his early years.  There was lots of pressure on his Dad to break up the family.  His Dad was determined that they stay together.  There was no support from the Government.  Canada did not have all the social programs that we take for granted now.

He never finished school, left after grade 7.  There were times when he would wander off for days at a time, no one bothered to go looking for him.  He spent days poking around the Winnipeg lake marshes looking for food, fishing, minor trapping, gathering, etc.  The only "motherly" presence was from an Aunt.  He began working when he was around 15.  Times were tough for everyone then, not just for kids.  He eventually landed a job at the Manitoba Rolling Mill, doing maintenance, it was a steel plant.

He, along with nearly every other able young man on his street, joined up immediately when WW2 started.  He ended up in the Navy.  Had never seen an ocean.  He was on the Corvettes for the entire war.  He did the North Atlantic runs, went through the Panama Canal, west coast of BC up to Alaska, sea trials in the Bahamas, de-mobbed in Newfoundland.

Went back to Selkirk after the war and didn't stay.  He had met my Mom while commissioning a ship at the Burrard Shipyards at the foot of Lonsdale.  Actually he met my Grandfather and Grandmother before he met my Mom.

He took whatever work he could after the war.  After all, there were lots of people out of work.  The world had changed over those war years and our society was embarking on an era that had not been experienced before.

He eschewed debt, never had a mortgage, even at 65 did not know how to use a credit card, or write a cheque.  He read every word in the newspaper, front to back.  He was never afraid to tackle something, and built as much as he could for himself.  I remember him saying: "This year when we go camping we are going to have a trailer."  That weekend we went to the wreckers and began searching for parts.  We had a trailer for camping.  Everything built by his own hands.  Frame, shackles, axle, cabin, interior, lights.  All out of his head, no plans, no drawings.  Awesome!!

Anyway, enough for now.  He was a dynamic man that enjoyed hard work, enjoyed doing what others couldn't, loved the outdoors, loved duck hunting, loved fishing, a good campfire, a good steak or a good hot dog.

I will miss having him around.

Dad has been moved back to the Cottage.  I am afraid that his end is very near.  I am amazed that he has lasted over the last years.

Half his heart is scar tissue, he had a colostomy years ago, his kidneys operate at about 10% of normal, his lungs are nearly useless, his BP is marginal, his appetite is none existent, he hasn't eaten anything apprciable in weeks.   I wear that he is surviving on will power alone.

He has said that he is comfortable and is not in need of anything.  It is still a difficult and awkward situation for me.  I am not used to dealing with this kind of stuff.

I still tend to think of my Dad as a hard-working man, interested in problems, fishing, growing stuff, building and fixing almost anything.  He has had both a difficult and interesting life.  I am privileged to have been a part of it.

Well, Mom has all the stuff set up for her "left over" garage sale tomorrow.  I took what is the legendary "last load" over to her new place.  She will have a fair bit of unpacking to do tomorrow/next week.


We were just having dinner and I got a call from Mom. 

She is at the Hospital.  The nurse has told her that Dad will make it through the night.  But, tomorrow will probably not make it through tomorrow.

I am going over, to the Hospital, now.  I will hang out there for a while, with Mom.

Dad is 95, but, that still doesn't make all this any easier.  Even though he has been declining for the last few years, it is still very difficult to imagine the end being so near.

Another week is done.

Mom has nearly gotten moved.  She is in her new place, here in Mission.  Seems very nice to me.  Lots of people and they all seem happy and busy.  She should be quite comfortable.  Her phone should get hooked up this morning, and thankfully, her tv was on last afternoon.

We have the majority of her stuff there, we just have to clean up and get rid of the rest of her stuff in
Abbotsford.

Mom, and I, went to visit Dad yesterday at the Abby Hospital.

He does not look very good.  The still have the drain tubes into his lungs.  The nurses say that he is quite quiet and calm.  However, he hasn't eaten anything for three, maybe four days.

I think that he is staying alive on his own will power and the fact that he has a pacemaker.
He may well be hanging on "to make sure" that Mom gets moved and settled properly.

We are all resigned to him just going to sleep, one evening, and not waking up in the morning.

He is very skinny and extremely weak, but, you can still see the vestiges of a hard working guy inside him.

His passing is going to leave a big hole in our family.  He has been a central part of many great events and decisions over a great number of years.

Not really all that "upbeat" the last couple of days.  Last Friday night Dad was taken to Abby Gen with a "spontaneous pneumothorax", to me a collapsed lung.  He also had pneumonia in the other.

He just had a second "procedure" this afternoon, late.  Apparently he looks better now.  He looked really bad when he first got there on Friday evening.

However, there is no denying that he is in the final stages.  He has been deteriorating consistently over the last year.  He has been bed-ridden since his arrival at the Cottage.

I know that for both my Mom and myself, his eventual passing will be a "life changing" moment.

Dad never finished school, never had an "upper level" job, always worked with his hands and his back.  But, I would consider him amongst the "successful" crowd.  Well respected, generally liked, had definite beliefs and opinions,  out-lived three entire sets of friends, dis-liked debt (never had a mortgage), and among many other traits, he loved Mom and his family.

Hurray, Friday Off!!!!!!

Do some yard work, empty out my van, go to the Gym (first appointment with a "personal trainer"), visit Dad and Mom, have a second cup of coffee.  Gotta love that second cup of coffee!!

Mom has moved up her "move date", she now hopes to be moved by the middle of May.  Lots of work for an 88 year old lady.  And she has done it mostly herself! 

It has been an experience, being a part of the process over the last ten years, as this couple has moved and downsized from a large place in Qualicum Beach into what will basically be a one bedroom apartment. 

Amazing how much "life" has to be compressed, disposed off, sold, tossed, etc.  A tremendous shame really.

The entire process has been trying, frustrating, enjoyable, time consuming, joyful, enlightening, and .......

At any rate, off to do the laundry.

The more things change,

Dad is still in the Cottage.  He is still hanging on, but, is slowly fading.  His eyes are failing, it is getting more and more difficult for him to read the newspaper.  Reading the paper was something that he did more thoroughly than anyone I have ever seen.  He read every word in there.  News, advice, editorial, classifieds, you name it, he read it.  But strangely enough, only the paper.  His reading never carried over into books and such.  He did go through a "phase" of reading light, local history books, but it was never as much as "the paper"

I am glad that we stood our ground when he went into the Abbotsford Hospital.  Hard to believe that a guy that left the Hospital and went to the Cottage, has never gotten out of bed, was pronounced "ready to discharge" by the Patient Care Administrator.  Absolutely no way that Mom, and the rest of us, could have even remotely handled caring for him.

It is very difficult to see a guy that is a "Hero of our Country", fading away.  He always worked his hardest and his best.  He was never afraid of a day's work and often would seek out "something to do" just for fun.

Anyway, more later.

So,  life goes on.

Mom is looking like she will manage to get moved to Cedarbrooke by the end of May.

Aunt Lillian will be moved by the end of March.

Dad is still in the Cottage and is still hanging in.  He seems to be getting weaker and is definitely fading.
He seems content enough, but, has problems hearing, eating, hasn't gotten out of bed since May, 2013.

Mom has been AWESOME!!  She has been tremendously faithful in visiting and doing her best to look after Dad as much as she can.

I sincerely hope that "Awesome Lady", and I, can be like these two are, when we get older.

Had a very long day yesterday.

Got my Mother (88) and her older sister (95) to agree to move into one of those assisted living places.
In this case Cedarbrook Manor in Mission.

Dad is still in the Cottage (hospital) and is still plugging along.

I hope that Mom will do OK at this new place.  She has a one bedroom and den, covered deck, three meals a day, exercise room, exercise pool, craft room, theatre room, 24 hour "bistro", staff "on site" 24/7, etc.

Should be OK

Well, Dad is still at the Cottage, getting weaker but still hanging in there.

Finally assembled my second hand pontoon boat.  Skykomish Sunrise, one of the older Scadden models.  It has the pontoons with the bladders inside.  Still seems to be in good shape, seems to have had very use.
Stand up platform, leaning bar, rear deck, saddle bags.  All good to go.  Just got to wait for better weather.

Well, Dad is still in the Hospital.  Medical Inpatient Unit.

It feels like such a tragedy to see this happening to such a hard-working, life enjoying man.
His appetite has disappeared, his eyes are failing, he can hardly hear.  Yet, he is still pretty sharp!
He may forget what day it is, but, who wouldn't when you are in the hospital?  Each day is pretty much like every other day!  Especially when you are bed-ridden.

The men, and women, from that generation cannot be duplicated!  When these guys are gone, society will have suffered a huge loss.  Those of us, from the "modern" generations, are no match for the courage, determination, hard work, tenacity, sense of duty, common sense, and, many other qualities that are becoming more and more difficult to find.

Those old guys, and this one in particular, are "the heroes of this country".  They will ALL be sorely missed.

Just got back from a quick trip to Kamloops.

The oldest (step) grand-daughter graduated.  Wonderful weekend and not bad Chinese food for dinner also.

The "Grad" ceremony took place over the entire weekend!  Wow, when I graduated (high school), I was allowed to stay out late one night.  Kids now days, have much more fun!!

Hope they all stayed safe!!

Dad is still in the Hospital, not fishing this year

Well, Dad is still in the Hospital.

94 and still fighting.  Unbelievable.
Trying to get him into a "care" home of some sort, but, the Fraser Valley Health crew are very disappointing in their performance so far.

Kind of makes my complaint, "not being able to go fishing" kind of "wimp-ass"

They sure don't make them like the people from a few generations ago.

Family

My Dad is back in the hospital.  Not the first time.  He has been on "borrowed time" since he was 75.  Closing in on 95 now.

The "Old Man" has been through the Depression on the Prairies, the Navy/North Atlantic in WW II, trying to find a job after the War, making do with almost nothing most of his life, but always enjoyed being alive.  He has always been happier with what he could make, rather than what he could buy.

He isn't famous, but, he has done lots of remarkable things.  Even from a simple standpoint.  He has never had a mortgage, ever.  He built each house on his own.

The last one, he was 65.  Bought a treed lot and a chainsaw.  Logged, cleared, did the foundation, did the framing, lots of the electrical and plumbing, most of the drywall, all of the painting.  At 65!!

It is very hard to see him fading away.

One other amazing thing.  My Mom is still alive also.  They have been married over 64 years.  They are currently still living, on their own, in a condo.

They don't make people like that anymore.

Thanks for the views.  Wow 213.