my father died this morning.
 

holy sh!t. i never thought i would see this phrase come from me. it's still very surreal to me as i never really accepted the fact that we would ever really lose him. he was always the bada$$ of fathers. he was a champion bodybuilder in his youth and he was always big and muscular and the strength of my family. he had bypass surgery, i guess around 10 or so years ago and he was just never the same after. he was still his ornery, cranky stubborn self, but physically he just slowly went downhill. last couple years he would just sit around and sleep all day and refused to go to his doctors appointments and his physical therapy. he eventually started using a walker and his eyesight had been getting progressively worse. i guess he just gave up and stopped fighting.
my parents are snowbirds and he had been breaking my balls last few years to come down to florida to visit when they were down there. as we hadnt been on a vacation in years we finally gave in, and even though we couldnt afford it he wanted to spend time with my boys down there. i spoke to him a couple days ago because he was giving my mom a hard time about doctors and therapy. i told him to stop breaking everybodys balls and listen to the doctors. she didnt let on that he was this bad. she led me to believe that this was just another hospital visit.
i'm still in shock and i dont know what to do. i cant believe my father is gone. how do you recover from something like this? how does life ever seem normal again?

Godspeed to him and prayers sent to you and your family. Never easy. "Time heals all" is not very comforting. The hurt does fade in time. I lost my dad at 6 yrs old. I knew he was sick and gone but I never mourned the loss until I was old enough to understand. Hang in there.

Wow. I'm very sorry for your loss there Bud. I remember some pictures you posted of you and your Dad fishing with the kids. You could just tell from the pics that he was a proud Dad and Grandpa.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Sorry to hear that CTT, I lost my father 9 years ago now and your right it just isn't the same afterwards. It sounds like he is in a better place now as no man that lived his life like you described wants to see them selves go downhill like that. You just have to remmeber him as he was and all of those times from the past.

Sorry to hear that.
Hang in there, you've got a lot fixing to be placed on your shoulders if you're their oldest or even if you're not.
You don't recover, life's gonna be different, you deal with it, that's as close as it gets.
Family takes care of family.
How about that picture of y'all in the boat?

Praying for you and your family CTT.

Oh man, I am VERY sorry. It must really suck to have it a "surprise". Both my parents died in the last few years, but it was a few months of shaky hospital time for each. But then that emotional freakin roller coaster ride sucked too.

Sorry, but it took me a long time to accept it, nor really sure if I am over it. I still miss mine more than I would have ever thought.

What you need to do now is take care of your mom.

my sincere sympathy to you and your family.

rkc

Sorry to hear the news Charlie....like the guys are saying its something you will be aware of the rest of your life... You'll get back into your routine soon enough and go about raising your family but there will always be days were you think about it and say man this sucks.

So sorry, God bless him and your family.

Found one thread with some pics.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/communit...highlight=pops