December 12, 2006

17 years ago I was working by myself in a Church office when the phone rang. Since I was the one who primarily answered the phone I naturally picked it up. It was the call nobody ever wants to hear. It was my mom’s Pastor calling to tell me that “there had been an accident, your mom is ok but your dad is dead.” Just like that. I was stunned to say the least. I asked him to repeat it and he said exactly the same words exactly the same way. I will never forget that day or the way that Pastor relayed the news.

The next few hours and days were a blur of people coming over, staying at my mom’s, making funeral arrangements, dealing with unfamiliar things and people, taking care of so many details.

My dad wasn’t in an accident, but he did die while driving his car. He had enough sense to know something was happening and pulled his car over to the side of the road. He put the car in park and he was gone, that quickly. “Changed in the twinkling of an eye” the Bible says. Later on they told us he had suffered a massive heart attack.

My dad was a quiet unassuming man but he went out with a bang. He was on the main street of small town USA and they shut down the street and re-routed traffic. He would’ve gotten a chuckle out of that.

I miss my dad. My mom tells me I’m the most like him out of the 3 of us. He didn’t judge people, he would do anything for anyone, and he loved me more than life itself. I was blessed to have a dad who loved God, who treated his wife with respect, who loved his children and never hesitated to tell us how much.

My dad’s last words to me were “I love you Sweetheart, you’re my only girl”. Such a good reminder to tell the ones we love how much we love them and how much they mean to us.

My dad was 65 years old and had plans to live a lot longer. God had different plans for him and as painful as it was losing him, I’m thankful that he never suffered from a lingering illness like so many others around him. It was his wish that when it was his time to go that God would just take him and God granted him that wish.

I miss you Dad.

From your one and only girl.