"Bridget" wrote in message
news:m%uQf.853213$xm3.422657@attbi_s21...
I'm sure there are those of you who remember my father and the sagas of
him and his cat Charlie. Well, they are all over as of about two hours
ago. My father succumbed to a septic infection. I spent the evening with
him as they got him transferred from the ER to ICU. He died several hours
later. He just stopped breathing. I will miss him, but I am glad for
him. He was tired of living. It had become a chore for him and one that
was painful. And he doesn't have to go through that pain anymore. It is
all over for him. I've been crying for 2 hours - just because, I guess.
But I really do feel this strong sense of relief for him and for me. It
was hard to watch him when I knew he wasn't happy.

Charlie has a designated home to go to. One of the techs at the nursing
home is going to take him. That has been arranged for a year now - when
we thought my father was going to die then. He comes complete with lots
of character and up to date shots, food, litter and litter box and good
health. I took good care of Charlie while Dad was alive. He was what
kept Dad sane and made the nursing home tolerable.

I got a couple of pictures of Dad right before they took him to the
hospital on Friday afternoon because I was borrowing a friends digital
camera. Little did I know they would be the last I would ever get to take
of him. I just figured they would do until he got well and I could take
some more. I didn't realize he would be dead less than 12 hours later.

I have a whole mix of emotions. I am glad my father has been released
from his pain. I will miss him terribly because I had come to count on
the time we spent together. That time we spent together had not always
been comfortable and now it was and I will miss that. I will miss the
nurses that I became friends with while he was in the nursing home - and
for that matter while I was in the nursing home before he was in there. It
was a comfortable place to be and I feel like they took very good care of
him there.

I feel like I am opening a new chapter of my life. One without either of
my parents since my mother died a year and some few months ago. I will
greatly miss my father and all the time it took to see him and keep him
happy. It sometimes annoyed me, but I did it because it was the right
thing to do because I loved him. Now I am so glad I did all those things.

I am not sure how much sleep I am going to get tonight. It is already
2:20am and I am not close to sleep in spite of all the heavy duty
medications I have taken that should have knocked me on my butt. My goal
is to make it through this without having to go to the hospital. I am
doing so well. I really don't want to have to take that step backwards.
And there is so much I have to do to make plans for my father's funeral
this week that I really don't have time to go to the hospital.

But, to be on the safe side, I am going to email my instructors about this
to let them know what has happened so that even though it is spring break,
if it spills over into the week after spring break, they will understand
what has happened and even if it doesn't spread over into that week, they
will know what has happened and will give me a bit of leeway when I get
back.

Thanks for reading through all of this. Comments are welcome.

Bridget - who just breaks out in tears suddenly every once in a while.

(((((Bridget)))) I'll be thinking of you. I'm glad you got to say goodbye,
you seem to have a peace and sense of closure for your Dad. For his sake, I
am happy he's at peace, and it's wonderful that Charlie already has a home
to go to. Charlie meant so much to your dad, I know how much comfort a 'mere
pet' brings when you are lonely.