A Matter of Days

December 21, 2008

Dear Family,

I'm sorry to be the bearer of sad news, but things have changed a bit here in Snowflake. Dad is having a very difficult time swallowing, and Uncle Alan says unless things change it will probably be just a matter of days before he slips away.

Alan told mom that he would arrange for dad to be brought home. They will put a hospital bed in mom and dad's room. That way mom can be with dad all of the time, and he won't have to be alone. The nursing home staff is wonderful, but dad just lies in his bed all day now, and they can't have someone with him twenty-four-seven. He could go to a hospice care center where someone would watch him all the time, but that is in Show low, and it would be too hard on mom.

Moe and the girls and I went out to the Carriage House after church to see dad for a little while. He was partly awake, lying in his bed. He kept lifting his hand, pointing his finger, and kind of shaking it. The thought crossed my mind that he was trying to make a point, as if he had been telling me something and wanted to emphasize it, but mom wondered if he was pointing at people we could not see, so we would know they were there.

In one way, this is probably going to be a very difficult Christmas, but in the other, how wonderful! Think of what a perfect Christmas present it will be for dad, to be able to see the Savior and have Him welcome him home again! I think that perhaps this will be the most spiritual Christmas any of us have ever been blessed to enjoy, and I thank our Father in Heaven for loving our family so much. We are truly the luckiest people in the world to be able to call grandpa dad, and to be his and mom's descendents.

I love you all, and wish you the happiest Christmas!

Love, Aunt Gale