Last breath...

My sister and I along with my girlfriend and a few others drove down to ATL with the plans to continue on to Florida. The only reason we drove is because I wasn't medically cleared to fly. So rather than wait, we just hit the road, which was in our summer plans anyway. The drive to ATL wasn't so bad. Each adult did 4-5 hours each and we knocked it out. On the road we spoke to my stepmother and found out my dad was now in a coma. My stomach totally sunk. I didn't even want to tell my sister when I heard this new development because my sister gets very emotional and I didn't want us to loose focus. I suggested we briefly stop in ATL and continue on instead of resting in ATL and leaving in the morning for Florida. This decision proved to be critical in getting to my dad in time. The only problem is that we were to tired to drive through the night to FL. My sister made some calls and we found a friend who could drive us all the way to my dads house. It was perfect! We hit the road at 2:45am and got to my dad around 12:30pm in the afternoon.

When we arrived my stepmom was...well, I guess going through and she didn't greet us or anything? Is is me? I mean I thought we would be hugging and maybe even crying but she totally blew us off. I guess she had alot going on. I tried to kiss her and she pulled away. Not sure why that was.

As I went into the room where my dad was he was breathing really hard as if he was working real hard to stay alive. We talked to him and held his hands. He was still in a coma. After a while I stepped out of the room to talk with my stepmom and the nurse. After the nurse checked his vitals, she reported to us that they were very weak and we should call his pastor and begin to pray. Shortly thereafter a minister from the church came and prayed with him and then he passed away...

My father waited for me and my sister to come. I know it!

I'm so glad I got to be with him one last time before he passed away even though he was not concious. He sort of gave me closure. I think my dad knew if we didn't make it in time it would haunt us for the rest of our lives. God worked it out so we could say goodbye and feel some type of closure for ourselves. I was there when my father took his last breath and will have fond memories of better times.