April 8th 2013

  My dad has been diagnosed with ALS since January of 2012 and was still working and well until May of 2012, Starting with annoying twitches all over his body and losing lots of weight from muscle loss and strict diets, then slowly we watched as he lost the mobility in his legs, then his arms, and hands.  Then needing to have a breathing machine a little at first to breathing on it constantly.  As of late the twitches have moved to his neck and face and even talking and swallowing have become difficult tasks. My mom and dad have tried everything under the sun to try and beat this disease including diets, vitamins, medicines, HGH shots and even stem cell therapy in Mexico, but to no avail...the inevitable would come and sooner than all of us expected....Today was a normal day where we do laundry, play and call Honey and Poppy's house to see how they are and what they are doing.  my dad was having a hard time getting some flem out of his throat so they were going to have the nurse come over to help...to me everything seemed ok...Later my mom called and requested my brothers and I to come over that night to be with my dad and discuss the options of a tracheotomy.

We all got there about 7 and it was not looking good, my mom was in tears and they both looked so tired. Little did we know that we were not going to discuss the option of the tracheotomy...my dad had already made the decision and it was that he couldn't fight this fight anymore. We all went in their room with the question as to where this evening would go, not really knowing at the moment.  We all sat around my dad (Bobby via Skype on the computer) in his bed as he tried, with a very faint voice and little strength to talk to us, he said only 4 things that were clearly audible to us... "I am in pain..."  , "I can't do this anymore."   Then as we realized what was actually going to take place tonight we all told my dad how much we loved him and what an amazing example he is and the great fight he has fought was among the most valient of the Lord's children.  The next thing he said to us was this, " I will always be with you."  This of coarse caused all of us to break down and have difficulty trying to talk anymore.  My cousin Teresa(who is a great surgeon) was there to administer morphene to calm his body. She did so and as we watched his body and face slowly get more relaxed he then said the next and last thing to us... Barley audible and in two long breathes he said, "What's next?"  My mom took it literal and said she was going to kiss and hug him.  In one light I think his technical mind wanted to know what was going to happen so as to avoid as much panic as possible and in the other light, I think that he was so close to the veil that he wasn't talking to us anymore, like he was saying, Okay I have completed this task that you have asked of me, now what is my next task. 
The next moments seemed so long but we all stayed by his side and reassured him that we were all there and he was okay.  We watched as the color left his face and eyes, I held his hand tighter and baried my head in his legs because that was the ultimate in pain to watch him breathe his last breathes. It was only a few minutes later that Teresa checked his pulse and we took his breathing machine off.  Only a few short seconds later, Coby said, "He's free," and at that same moment I heard my dad say to me, "Don't cry, I love you."
 This is one of those moments in life, that I don't want to remember but I never want to forget. It is amazing and so special that in the roughest and worst moments like these you feel the closest to people. My mom held my dad as my brothers and I all held a group hug tightly together. How many people have the opportunity to sit my the bedside of someone they love so much and tell them how much they love them until the very end?  I left my mom and dads house within the hour because I needed to get home to feed Tyson, When I walked in Liv, Tyson and Lance were all awake in the living room watching a movie, I turned the lights off so that Liv couldn't see that I had been crying.  When lance looked over at me as I set my purse down, I mouthed the words, "He's gone." Lance was shocked, having no idea that the visit tonight would be the last.  We embraced for as long as we could before Liv could tell thought anything was wrong.  Lance took her to bed, I took Tyson to bed and then we gathered together to embrace and cry as I told Lance how the night had gone.

The next day to follow came with more tears, baggy eyes and crying headaches.  Lots of calls were made and messages sent out, but the love from family and friends came pouring in.  We arranged funeral plans, my brothers doing most of the work, and gathered pictures, and my mom wrote the obituary.  The viewing came Friday night and Saturday morning followed by the funeral service at Noon. We figured we had about 600 people attend in total. My brothers and I all spoke and so did Uncle Paul.  We also have two songs "I Believe" Sung by all the girls in the family and "Brightly Beams our Fathers Mercy " Sung by all the boys in the family.  It really was a great tribute to my dad!