This is Nicholas, Brianna and Madsion's Pa Paw one of the most wonderful
men I have ever known. Everybody called him Red. He was a very out spoken
strong willed man. Doris and Red were married July 6, 1952
and had their own daughter November 7, 1954. Red was in the Navy and Airforce
from November 20, 1951 to 1955. Their daughter Donna is the one who brought
me to met Doris and Red for the first time. They always said they feel
in love at first site. He and his wife took me into their home when I was
3 months old and loved me as if I were their own.Red loved his animals, he had chickens, dogs and cats. He owned his own
dental lab until he retired. After he retired he like going to the farmers
market and just being outside. He would come visit me at work and bring
me flowers every Valentines Day. When he found out I was pregnant
with Nicholas he was so excited because our family only had girls. When
I lost Nicholas, Red was very heart broken. I know they are in Heaven now
having a great time with each other. In July of 2000 the doctors found
that he had two aneurysm's in his stomach. His brother had died of an aneurysm
a few years earlier, so he was not sure what to do about it. They told
him he could go 10 years without any problems or it could be 10 minutes.
He asked the family what we thought he should do, we all agreed that it
should be his decision. Looking back I wish I would have told him to just
leave it. He decided to have the surgery to take them out on July 31, 2000.
The surgery lasted about 8 hours and they only got one aneurysm removed.
He was in ICU for about 2 months and would not wake up, but when I would
go in he would squeeze my hand, the nurses said that I was the only one
who could get him to respond. When he finally woke up the transferred him
to a rehab hospital to get him off the breathing machine. This hospital
was terrible I would never let anybody I love ever go in that place again.
Finally after about 5 months he came off all the machines and was sent
to a place close to home to help him learn to walk again and keep an eye
his breathing, this place was less than a mile from his home so we were
happy about that. He was doing well, talking about liking the tub they
had there it was like a hot tub, I had to tell him he was not supposed
to be there on vacation he was to be working on getting better so he could
come home. I was 8 months pregnant now with Brianna, and Red was really
excited, he also was happy about the man I was getting ready to marry (it
was hard for anybody to impress Red, but Brent did). I went to visit him
on a Sunday and he was doing good and seemed to be feeling good and getting
back to his old self. I was supposed to be on bedrest but I could not go
very long without going to see him. When I left that day he kissed me told
me he loved me and to come back soon, I told him I would. The following
Sunday was my baby shower and after it was over I was going to go see him
but I was so tired I decided to stay home and go on Monday to see him.
At 3:00 am Monday morning the phone rang I knew it could not be good, it
was his wife Doris telling me to get to the hospital Red was sick again.
Brent and I rushed out of the house and drove about 20 minutes to the hospital
only to be directed to the chapel. I was to late, he was gone and he was
there all alone. I hate I never went back to see him like I said I
would I hate I was not there to hold his hand when he was leaving this
world after a long hard fight. They took us to the room to see him I just
stood there by his side and held his hand not believing he was gone.
They funeral was nice it was Military style and his best friend the Sheriff
Gerald Hege was there to so the 21 Gun Salute, he would have been
proud. 13 days later I gave birth to Brianna, 7 weeks early, I try to believe
Red was taken to be Brianna's guardian angel but I wish he could have stayed
to see my first born and see his face as he held her for the first time.
You can probably tell I have a lot of regrets so please take it from me
tell the people that you love how much you love them, don't
wait there may not be a tomorrow.
Red, I love and miss you very much. I hope you are
proud of me and how I raise my girls. Brent is a good man I know you would love
him like a son, he is good to me and our girls. I love my girls like you loved
me, with all of my heart. I hope you were greeted by Nicholas and you two are
having a good time there in heaven. I am sorry I didn't come back like I said I
would, I am sorry I didn't make it to the hospital to hold your hand when you
left, I am sorry for all the times I hurt you, I am sorry I never got to tell
you that I appreciated everything you did for me all my life. I wish you could
hold my girls and squeeze their finger, I wish I could see, hug, and talk to you
one more time. Please know I love you and I miss you I think of you everyday and
try to make you proud because I know you are still watching over me.
I LOVE YOU
Punky
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