Valerie
Well-Known Member
I was honored to be able to spend almost 3 months helping care for my Dad at the end of his journey, and I am so thankful I was there to witness him pass peacefully. I am already missing him greatly but I am trying to take comfort in knowing he is with his family and my Mom, who I know he missed so much the past 5 years. Dad made it past his 77th birthday and we all got to sing him happy birthday on 1-7, and he passed peacefully on 1-10 at 6:05 am. The last few hours were much harder on my sisters and myself than they were for him, but I know that he was called home to Heaven and is now at peace.
We just held his funeral on 1-21 and it was such a nice celebration, he was a retired policeman and a Navy veteran, so the Salem Police Dept honored him with a color guard and he was also honored with a military presence, who came up to finish the service by playing "Taps" (which made me cry, so beautiful) and presented my oldest brother with the American Flag. We also had a family friend do a couple of solos, she sang Ave Maria and Amazing Grace, which she did beautifully! My Dad was a quiet man with a great sense of humor and I know he would have been humbled by all of the people who attended to honor his life.
Thank you to you all for your words of encouragement the past few months, this forum is really so much more than a horse forum, even if I do not have minis anymore, I feel like I have a place to come and hang out with friends.
Now we as a family of 7 kids have to pull together to get through the estate process, one child, is making it very difficult and all the rest of us can do is pray that this person finds the way. We had to have a sibling meeting on Sat after the funeral and it went very poorly, so suffice it to say the family ties are strained with one child. I know my parents are in Heaven and are happy, now all I can hope and pray for is that we can settle the estate with as little damage as possible. It is so sad to me that kids feel they are "owed" or "entitled" to anything, my parents worked hard and I have never ever felt they owed me anything, too bad all of us kids do not feel that way. I guess even with a living trust that spells everything out is just not good enough for one of the siblings...so very sad. One never wants to hear a sibling that he "hates" 3 of the other siblings and that this person "never" wants to see any of us again and "never" wants to go back to Salem. Very sad indeed, but I figure this sibling needs help and if the person is not willing to get the help, nobody can force the person to seek the help. I am not going to go in specifics, all I can do is pray for this person and that is what I have done.
I am just going to finish this by saying, if you have loved ones alive, please tell them you love them and if you have conflicts work on resolving them, I know we never know all the sides of a story, but life is too short to be miserable and be so hateful towards others.
Today I took a day off just to regroup and focus and reflect on things. Hugs to you all.
Valerie
We just held his funeral on 1-21 and it was such a nice celebration, he was a retired policeman and a Navy veteran, so the Salem Police Dept honored him with a color guard and he was also honored with a military presence, who came up to finish the service by playing "Taps" (which made me cry, so beautiful) and presented my oldest brother with the American Flag. We also had a family friend do a couple of solos, she sang Ave Maria and Amazing Grace, which she did beautifully! My Dad was a quiet man with a great sense of humor and I know he would have been humbled by all of the people who attended to honor his life.
Thank you to you all for your words of encouragement the past few months, this forum is really so much more than a horse forum, even if I do not have minis anymore, I feel like I have a place to come and hang out with friends.
Now we as a family of 7 kids have to pull together to get through the estate process, one child, is making it very difficult and all the rest of us can do is pray that this person finds the way. We had to have a sibling meeting on Sat after the funeral and it went very poorly, so suffice it to say the family ties are strained with one child. I know my parents are in Heaven and are happy, now all I can hope and pray for is that we can settle the estate with as little damage as possible. It is so sad to me that kids feel they are "owed" or "entitled" to anything, my parents worked hard and I have never ever felt they owed me anything, too bad all of us kids do not feel that way. I guess even with a living trust that spells everything out is just not good enough for one of the siblings...so very sad. One never wants to hear a sibling that he "hates" 3 of the other siblings and that this person "never" wants to see any of us again and "never" wants to go back to Salem. Very sad indeed, but I figure this sibling needs help and if the person is not willing to get the help, nobody can force the person to seek the help. I am not going to go in specifics, all I can do is pray for this person and that is what I have done.
I am just going to finish this by saying, if you have loved ones alive, please tell them you love them and if you have conflicts work on resolving them, I know we never know all the sides of a story, but life is too short to be miserable and be so hateful towards others.
Today I took a day off just to regroup and focus and reflect on things. Hugs to you all.
Valerie
