My sister Marcie posted some pictures of Dad's injury and a tribute to him. I thought that it captured him so perfectly, that I copied it to our blog too. Thanks, Marcie!!P.S. You are so not on my good list right now though for making me cry!!
We almost lost my dad in October of 2009. He fell while playing softball and hit his head.
He scraped his arm and likely injured his pride. We thought that all was well since his CT scans just showed "bruising" of the brain.
In truth, it was bleeding in two sections of his brain and over the next few weeks, his headaches and motor skills got worse.
He was life flighted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas and through the skills of the surgeons and the powers of earnest prayer, he survived.
He retained his character, integrity, and sense of humor and we retained our greatest treasure- Him! This album contains things I have recognized to be treasures that he has shared with us.
He always put our mother and his children before himself. He keeps us safe and reminds us we are loved.
He has guided us when we have been too afraid to go alone.
He allows us to experience things for ourselves, so me may have our own victory,.... or often....our own defeat. He allows those to be our learning experiences.
He has pulled us along when we were too weary to go alone.
He has helped us understand the future by learning from those who came before.
He has taught us to fish when it would have been much simpler to do it himself.
He sees eternity in the actions of today.
He plows ahead- breaking our trail, so our travel will be smoother.
He sees each soul with the reverence they deserve.
He has taught the path ahead is to be enjoyed- not endured.
He reminds us we do not need the latest "things" to hear the music of life.
He helps us to view the world through the eyes of a child.
He is our anchor even when our strain is his constant burden.
He reminds us we do not need to eat in the finest restaurants to dine in the greatest places on earth or be surrounded by the best people on earth.
He helps us not feel so alone when life can feel overwhelming and desolate.
He helps us all discover the beauty of the world around us and in so doing, discover new things about ourselves.
His example has taught us that no matter how prickly of a situation we have been dealt, there is always an opportunity to find beauty somehow from the experience.
He always has lifted us up when we really needed it- and many times the only thanks he received was us almost squeezing the life out of him.
He believes that if you do not feel dang tired at the end of every day, you did not do enough. He works hard, plays hard, and loves quietly and fiercely. To my dad and all of the other wonderful dads out there, thank you, love you, and wish the world had more people like you.
Dad would probably kill you two...
ReplyDeletebut it's probably a good idea to have these forever documented.