Graduation

This morning, shortly after midnight, Dave's dad Wayne passed away, graduating from this life and mortality into the next. It was a call we have been expecting since that day after quadruple bypass surgery over 24 years ago when the doctors said, "We've done all we can for him. Take him home and love him for whatever time he has left." I doubt they expected it to be double decades (or that he would survive two more bypass surgeries, multiple bouts of pneumonia, and the death of his lovely but crippled wife), but we have enjoyed having him around for these many unexpected years. He was 83, and had been in declining health for many, many years. He had suffered with heart problems for nearly 30 years, and diabetes for over 40. Those brutal diseases take their toll early, and lead the patient on a roller coaster of slow death. He had many miles on his body. He missed his sweetheart. It was time. It was HIS time.

And though it is always hard for those who remain, there is a feeling of joy and celebration for his graduation party that is happening in heaven. We thought about his sweetheart, Maxine, who passed away nearly two years ago, and how much he loved her. We thought about the reunion with his mother, and the joy in his eyes when he could look into hers and report with complete assurance that he had fulfilled her dying request: to take good care of his mentally challenged brother, Lynn. Being the last surviving sibling, I'm sure there was quite a reunion with all of them. He surely had many welcome him whose lives he changed through the capacities of bishop, missionary, friend, or home teacher. What a joyful reunion!

We got to take all the kids down to see him and to be with the family in the few hours after his death. Stu sat quietly with Grandpa for a few minutes. I asked him if he was ok. He said that he and grandpa were having a chat. You see, Grandma always told him that if she was going to be his guardian angel, he better not go to dangerous places, because she wouldn't go there. Stu was asking Grandpa to have a little chat with Grandma so as to convince her that the sand dunes and snowmobiling trips in deep powder weren't dangerous, so could she please accompany him (Stu) when he went those places. It made me grin. Only Stu.

The funeral will be held on Dave's birthday. When I asked him how he felt about it, he said, "It's ok. I know that they will both be there!" He said he feels at peace with his parents, and that they know the intent of his heart in all that he has done, and that his intentions were pure. That's a nice feeling.