The Final Watch
Dad’s hospital room overlooked a golf course in March; but as he had a devastating stroke exactly one month ago, he now gets the 19th hole in consolation

It was a bittersweet month with his loss, and the struggle to make the heart wrenching decision to not employ life sustaining technology in light of his inability to eat, drink, speak, ambulate, move his right side, nor fathom the meaning of letters, we had to stop the fight to survive. There was no hope for recovery. I did rekindle relationships with my younger siblings, whom have all made it past 40 years of age by now.

Through the two weeks of inevitable mortality, we enjoyed memories and worked well together to give comfort to our father. Dad really wanted to end it all within the security of his home, and that was attained.

The past two years have been hard; but in retrospect, he had a pretty good life and accomplished raising 6 kids, mostly without my mother who died 31 years ago. We all graduated college and are a pretty good lot.

Now it is time to put away the condolences, remember fondly the comments of fellow mourners who said, “Ernie was a great guy,” and write a lot of Thank You cards, as I close this chapter in my life and begin work on my two fronts, Education and Halal.

Dad was not a commercial success, but he was the first in his neighborhood to graduate college. I have a sense now that it is all the little successes that make a life well lived, and I hope to complete more advances while I can. With that, April showers are keeping me off the bike trails, so I’d better work in order to play on sunny days before my tomorrows run out.