STORYTIME TAPESTRY

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Special Treat ??“ From Me

Feb 8, 2006

THE JOURNEY

? Sharon Bryant

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I believe everyone must one day take a journey.?  I believe mine has happened in the past two weeks.

It is not the journey I had ever hoped or wanted? to take.

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Originally my husband and I were planning our week vacation in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.?  I had this nagging feeling to forget going there and go to Michigan instead where my father, brother and sister live.?  The feeling became strong and we changed our plans and decided Michigan was where we would go.

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We left here the morning of Jan.12 on Thursday.?  We arrived in the Detroit area late that night.?  My father's house was 125 miles from Detroit so we spent the night, the next day and night with friends and headed for my dad's house on Sat. Jan. 14.?  We arrived at Dad's early that day.?  We had two and a half days of laughter, lunches, dinners out and good times together.?  On Sunday, Jan. 15, my brother who lives quite a distance from my dad, decided to come to dad's and give me my birthday present.?  My sister lives on the same acreage as Dad's house, so that's how we all came to be together that day.?  I took photos.?  Something told me to take several which I did.

Also, being on vacation, I did not have my address book with me.?  I had no phone numbers for anyone.?  I had no email addresses.? 

An incident happened on Sunday evening that I will never forget; one? that ripped my heart out.?  My dad got out his album I'd made him for his 80th birthday five years ago and he and I sat on the couch going through all the photos.?  I had a memorial page on one page in memory of my mom, my brother and my son.?  Dad knew who mom was, but he kept looking at Andy and finally said, "Who is this?"?  It broke my heart.?  I replied that it was his grandson, Andy who was named after him.?  He said, "What happened to him?"?  I replied a tree fell on him.?  Dad looked at me and said, "Yours?"?  I couldn't even speak at that point so I nodded my head yes.?  It broke my heart he had no memory of his first born grandchild.

A few seconds later, his memory came back and he sort of hit the side of his head and said, "What's wrong with me??  I know Andy."?  Another heartbreaking moment for me.

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I found a notepad he kept near the phone and was struck with another heartbreak.?  It said, "Jody, a friend in Tenn."?  My husband has always loved and cared about my dad and my dad always told me what a great guy he is.? 

Several times he asked my husband where he lived.? ? ?  Alzheimer's takes so much from us.?  Not only the person with it, but the loved ones who beg and pray to God to allow their loved one to remember them and parts of their lives.

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I left my dad's on Monday late in the? afternoon after we'd taken him to lunch.?  I told him I'd be back in June.?  But I had this nagging feeling in my heart that June would never come.?  The last thing I said when we were going out the door was, "I love you."?  He hugged me and kissed my cheek.

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My sister was leaving Tuesday evening for Cancun, Mexico.?  We decided we'd take turns on calling dad and checking on him.?  My call was to begin on Thursday.? 

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I spent Monday and Tuesday night on the western side of Michigan with my ex sis-in-law and brother-in-law.?  We planned on heading back to Alabama on Wed. morning.?  But when Wed. came, I had another nagging feeling not to leave until the next day, Thursday morning.?  I told my husband I wanted to spend one more night.?  I had no idea why.?  Just a gut feeling not to leave on Wednesday.

We left for Alabama early Thursday morning.

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We headed down I-69 and were in Indianapolis, Indiana when my phone chirped.?  I saw it was my sister.?  I wondered why she would be calling me from Cancun.?  But the second I heard her try and say something......I knew.?  I knew something had happened to my dad.?  After three attempts of her trying to tell me, my brother-in-law took the phone and said, "Your dad just passed away."

All I can remember is going numb and saying, "Don't tell me this."

We turned the van around and headed back north.

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My dad was a WWII Vet.?  And though he never thought it was such a big deal to him, to us it always was.?  I was always proud of his discharge papers and the medals he earned while serving in Germany and France.?  We wanted him to have a military funeral.

We wanted to give our dad the best we could, for he had always given us the best he had in himself.

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We also decided our dad deserved something special so we all three wrote our feelings out on paper about how we felt about him.?  The funeral parlor was impressed with doing that, they put them in frames and they were in the funeral parlor.?  I can't count the times people would say to me, "If a funeral can be called beautiful, you three have made the first one I've ever seen."

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We had three boards with photos of dad's life.?  And we felt so proud when people would come up to us and say, "Have you ever been told you were born to movie stars?"?  My father has always been a hunk and our mom was gorgeous.

At the church they set up a large screen.? ? We had chosen 25 photos to be shown on the screen in video form.?  We also wanted it themed at WWII, and the funeral parlor did a? wonderful job of dubbing scenes from France and Germany in with the photos.

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On Monday we drove over 125 miles to Detroit to have my beautiful, wonderful father laid to rest alongside our mom.?  The Veteran's were there and when Taps was played, it broke my heart.?  I sat with my head bowed when a Veteran walked up in front of me after they folded the flag and presented it to me.?  It was with shaking hands I took it.? 

Another Veteran stepped up to me and presented me with eleven shell casings from the guns shot.?  In just a few days the flag and shells (3 of them) will be inside the case I ordered for them.?  There were eight grandchildren and three of us, dad's children, so with the eleven shells, each grandchild? will be? given one.?  I was given one for my son Andy who died 29 years ago.? 

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On the 14 hour drive home yesterday, I relived these past two weeks.?  A week that began so happy and wonderful then ended with pain and tragedy.?  And yet, my father has always said he never wanted to be a burden to any of us.?  He made me promise many years ago that I'd never have him put into a home.?  He always said he hoped God called him home before that would ever come to be.?  God called him home.?  Just two days before I arrived in Michigan he told my sister, something was wrong with his train of thinking.?  He said his head was "befuddled" and he couldn't keep things straight.?  I thank God he knew all of us and that we all had a couple of days with him together.

Dad had a check up just two days before I got to his house.?  The doctor said he was fine.?  Just a few days later he had a heart attack.

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Each year on January 22, I always get heart tugs remembering the son I gave birth to on my birthday.? ?  Now I will carry the memory of another birthday, carrying a heavy heart trying to say good bye to the father I love.

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I would like to thank everyone who sent emails regarding my dad's passing.?  There were too many to answer personally.?  It's taken me over three hours just to write this.?  Sometimes it's hard to type with water running down the sides of your face.

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I am proud to be the daughter of one of the finest men who ever walked this earth.?  And like the story I wrote this past Father's Day about my dad, I will always love him.?  Alzheimer's was claiming his mind but his love will always be inside my heart and my brother and sisters hearts.?  Our love will never die.?  One day I will also take this journey.

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? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ?  In Memory of my father

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ? Frank S. Cook

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  October 10, 1920 - January 18, 2006

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Sharon (Cook) Bryant

? 1946@bellsouth.net