Some things were funny, like Dad wanting shampoo in the middle of the night, or wanting to move appliances to another town. Some were sweet like Dad looking out the window and seeing little pigs loose in the yard. Some things were aggravating, like Dad's obsession with "working" in his study, needing to balance that checkbook. But even through the aggravation, we could see his desire to provide for his family. One night when Bill was on duty, he heard Dad talking and went to check on him. Dad was praying in his sleep, thanking God for the spouses of his children giving their time for Dad's care. When Paul was here, Dad became convinced he had lost his Bible study book. He even made Paul hunt through the cushions for it. The weekend before he died, Dad spent a couple of hours in his wheelchair at the door, waiting for his group to arrive. He named some men he had been in Bible studies with in the past, and felt sure they were coming for a meeting.
I'm sorry that Dad's mind failed along with his body. But I'm so thankful that what came out when his mind was unfiltered was good and fine and hopeful.
(This is the last photo I took of Dad. It is from my tiny cell phone and I know it is blurry. It is Dad waiting by the door for his Bible study group to arrive.)
Yes, what an example of a pure heart towards God and family! Dad told me a story once of when he was a boy in KS--His father was approached while out ont the railroad tracks chekcing the rails (25 miles each day around the little town in KS) by a farmer with a sack of piglets, asking if W.J.Sr. would buy them for a dollar so he could buy shoes for his children to go to school. So Dad's father did this, and they raised the piglets into pigs and had extra meat that fall. Just wondering if those were the pigs he was seeing in his mind...
ReplyDelete"For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." How beautiful to see the abundance that your dad's heart possessed!! \O/
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