My hero...my Dad!

September 11th was my dad's birthday and I got a text at work from Conrad and Daniel informing me that during dinner my dad had a seizure. I called home and my kids told me that he was taken to the hospital by the Ambulance. I quickly left work and was teary eyed as I drove home. I was scared he wasn't going to make it!
I had called Lydia and when they arrived we went to the hospital, and it was the middle of shift change- so we waited for 45 minutes until we could get into the ICU. I'm so glad we stayed to see him because that was the last time I saw him awake. We walked into the ICU and sat at the doorway of his room because it was dark and it looked like he was sleeping. He must have heard us talking because he started to wave his hand underneath his blanket. We walked in and I was able to read him the birthday card I had made for him.
"He's a Man of great dignity,
honor and strength.
His merits are noble, and of admirable length.
He's far greater than all other men that I know,
He's my dad, he's my mentor, my friend and hero!" I love you Dad!
When I finished my father tenderly said "I love you too!" Lydia was full of life and started telling him about how Caden figured out how to open all of the kitchen cabinents and tried to take everything off of the shelves. He grinned his little grin and said "Naughty Caden!" We laughed and then she also told him about how Caden had found one of his cane's and was trying to figure out how to get through the doorways with it. He responded with his quick wit "He's raising cane!" We told him we loved him so much and that we would leave so he could rest. I asked him if he was going to be able to go home soon and he said he thought that maybe tomorrow or the next day he'd go home. (After thinking about that comment I think he was telling me that he was going home to Heaven) He wanted us to remember to shut the curtain so the lights wouldn't be so bright. His last words to us were "I love you!"
The next morning Lydia and I rushed over to the hospital at 9 am to get a paper for her husband's work and to sneak in and see my dad really fast. We got there and we saw the Dr. standing by him saying "Mr. Stone, Mr. Stone, do you hear me, Mr. Stone?" We just watched him for a second as he kept raising his right pointer finger to his lip over and over again. The Dr. turned to us and said, "He's just became un-responsive. We are getting him ready to go to a CAT scan. We have to check his brain because we think he is having a focul seizure." We went to to him and gave his hand a squeeze and then the nurse started talking to us and said that he was awake that morning, he had fed himself and ate all of his food, then right before we got there he lapsed into this seizure which turned into a coma. We were only in there for maybe 5 minutes before they needed to whisk him away to his CAT scan. My heart sunk and I was worried, but knew my mom and Bonnie would be there soon.
Lydia and I left to go and run some errands, we needed some things for my car since it had broken down. As we were in Target, I got a phone call from my sister Bonnie. I stopped dead in in the aisle and my voice got shaky and I said, "Oh my gosh Bonnie, did dad die?" I got off the phone and rushed back to the hospital and I told Lydia that Grandpa was bleeding to death. It turns out there was bleeding on his brain and it had gone from 1 cm to 6 cm. In order for the blood to stop, pressure was building up on his brain causing brain damage. They told us they could do surgery but he would need 24 hour care and would be more or less in a vegetable state. My father had told my mom he never wanted to live like that so we decided to stop all the medication and let him pass by himself. He was in a coma state until he passed away.
It's different to watch a person die and even more difficiult when it's your father. Since he was in a coma he couldn't swallow and the saliva was building up in his airpassage way. It was as if he was gurgling all night long. My brother, sisters, mother and I sat by his bedside throughout the night and listened to what sounded like a very loud, gurlgling snore. We shared memories of our father, the good and the bad...but mostly the good. We even laughed at some of the stories we remembered and had as good of a time as we could as we were surrounded by loving thoughts of our father. At one point we were discussing his funeral, around 7am Sunday morning, (Sept. 14th) and I noticed that it was quieter. I mentioned that to my family and we gathered around my father, held his hand and my mother gently stroked my fathers hair and whispered her eternal love and goodbyes, then kissed him. We held hands after that and watched my father take his last mortal breaths. It was oddly peaceful as he passed from this life into the next.
We thought that he was gone but feel that he played one last joke on us as the moniter went flat and everyone had gathered around him and then he took another breath and everything popped back up again and then flatlined for the last time. I said Icould picture him in heaven with his brother Burke saying, "Burke, watch this!"
As my daughter Lydia pointed out, he always had a twinkle in his eye and a joke ready to be told. He was a wonderful example to me and my children..and I too can hear him say, as he used to whenever he was done talking to me on the phone or when I left home...Don't forget!!! I won't ever forget dad...you love me! And don't ever forget....that I love you too!