Goodbye, Dad

Well, what I had hoped would wait much, much longer has happened. That emergency that I spoke of in my last post was my father. He’s been in the hospital off and on since late April, and this Saturday, my family and I found out that his worst fear has happened: He is now a vegetable.

I know it probably doesn’t mean anything to anyone that didn’t know him, but I’m going to miss him. He wasn’t perfect, he never saved any kittens from trees, and he definitely couldn’t follow directions, but he was my dad. I’ll miss his off-key singing. (It was so bad that at a karaoke place owned by a friend of his, he was forbidden to sing.) I’ll miss his greeting– “Yo yo yo!” I’ll miss his constant requests for dim sum and his insistence that one day I would eat chicken feet.

Honestly, I’ve known this was going to happen for years. I had just hoped I was very wrong. He was very sick, and he wasn’t inclined to do anything to help retard the progress of his various ailments, including diabetes.

To all you diabetics: Take your insulin, eat like you’re supposed to, and stay positive when things start getting bad.

Dad remained positive right up until he coded. He insisted that we would go out to lunch just as soon as he was out of the hospital, smiled whenever someone entered his room, and complained very little. Even when both of his legs were amputated and he was told he wouldn’t walk or be independent ever again, he simply stated that he wanted to go home and play fetch with his dog.

So, Dad, wherever you are, take care. I love you, I’ll miss you, but you deserve better than what you went through for the past eight months.

One of the best, most flawed people I've ever known.