As you all know Jeff and his brother went up to Crescent City in April to tend to their dad who was dying of emphasema.
The last week has been He*l for us because he was becoming delusional in thinking that people were in his home and that he was having a congressional hearing in his living room. My first thoughts were "heck I hope that he gets some new good laws passed" - lol. He even accidentally pushed the fire department button on the panel that we had installed and they came to his rescue only to be welcomed with... "Are you Mr. T. *******" with him answering, "who the He*l do you think I am the Easter Bunny!!!!" They actually called the sheriff out on a 5150 (crazy guy). Luckily, he was saved by his sons and care taker who told them that it's his personality. WHATEVER!!
The boys were ready to have him evaluated because they really thought he was losing it. Well, Jeff's brother called this morning and said that he was not able to get ahold of their dad for the past 30 hours. They called the caretaker who came in 3-4 days a week and she said that his car was in the garage and the newspapers were still on the doorstep. We called the Sheriff out who climbed through a window only to find that their dad had passed away.
I think that their dad had alittle bit to do with his death in the fact that he cut off his oxygen and I think that he basically kept drinking and stopped eating therefore leading him to forget his medication. It's hard because my only thoughts are that this poor man died ALONE. But in one respect I think that it's brought some closure to both the boys because now they know he's not suffering anymore. I talked with my sister in law this evening who said that their dad made one comment to Jeff's brother when he told his dad that he was concerned and thought that he should be evaluated. The comment was "I'm not going to be put back in an orphanage". That just made me more sad because him and his brothers were put in an orphanage when they were small because their mom died when they were quite young and their father could not care for them. So in a sense I truly believe that he did not want to be abandoned.
All of us had hoped that he would come live close by us so we could all take care of him but in the end he died in the place that he loved and called home.
We're doing well here. Jeff got home last night with a truckload of stuff - UGH. They got everything done that was real important and we'll all head up there within the month to figure out the rest. I think both Jeff and his brother are not only physically tired but emotionally drained. It was a good healing time for both of them and brought them closer together. They decided not to do a service or anything up there and brought their "dad" (cremated) down here where we can gather friends and family and have a little get together. Their dad wasn't for huge flashy stuff. I tracked down their dad's sister and they got a chance to speak with her. That was good. Tracking her down was not an easy task but I lucked out and in the end she called them when her son told her that they were looking for her.
Thanks for the well wishes and I'll be around real soon.
We're going to miss you.
