On September 27th, my dad passed away after three weeks in the hospital following triple bypass surgery. Obviously, the last 5 weeks has been an emotional whirlwind. Two memorial services, planning the spreading of his cremated remains and going thru 3 generations of memories and mementos. Mixed within all of that has been me working 40+ hours a week, sorting out his debt and explaining to those debtors that he left nothing behind to pay them. That also goes hand in hand with having to set up an online fundraiser to get the funds to have his memorial services as well as to afford the flight to California next month to spread his remains.
Emotionally, I’ve never dealt with anything of this magnitude before in my life. Yes, this sort of thing is inevitable. That doesn’t mean I was anywhere near ready for it, nor did I think I’d be handling it before I turned 40. Then again, never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be saying goodbye to my father before his 60th birthday, either.
It was incredibly hard, watching family and friends pay their last respects to Dad. Though, I’m certain that spreading his ashes will be the most difficult moment of this emotional journey.
He was my best friend and a huge part of the lives of so many other people. Two articles were written by local newspapers following his passing, I’ve linked to them below:
- West Dundee man known for support of Sleepy Hollow, police department dies
- Family of Sleepy Hollow volunteer seeks donations for memorial services
I love you Dad. I hope you enjoyed the World Series as much as we did. The Cubs finally won it all! If nothing else, I know you had the best seat in the house. I just wish you were here to celebrate it with us.
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