12/28/2020
In March it’ll be 8 years since I held the hand of this sweet man as he took his last breath. When he passed away he was in hospice house surrounded by those who loved him most; the Lord allowed me to be the only one awake when he passed. It was his & my thing; “save the best for last”... I would always run back in after everyone had kissed & hugged him bye, just so I could be the last one. The Lord worked it out where I was the last one to kiss & hug him bye on this side. The last one to hold his hand & whisper to him how loved he was.
Papa was sick for awhile; cancer took him away from us earlier than we ever dreamed. Weeks prior; mom & I took off to Florida & spent a couple of weeks with him to try to soak up as much time as we could, while we could. Though I held his hand weeks after as he took his last breath; THIS was our goodbye. I was scheduled to be in a wedding the week following our visit; so mom & I had to tell him “see ya later” for the week & head back to Georgia. Papa & I tried all we could to prolong our stay; coming up with extra things to talk about. I’ll never forget as mom & I packed up the car; papa stood on his porch, cried & waved at us until we were no longer in sight... I cried for the next few hours.
The Lord gave mom & I a song during that time; a song we clung to weeks after during his passing. He’s no longer with us; but Heaven sure has got a lot sweeter, & knowing he’s there, I’d say it’s a little sour too. 😉 I sure miss that crazy Italian!
Mom made me this pillow; it’s the shirt he was wearing the day he stood on the porch & told us “see ya later”, one of my most treasured Christmas gifts. 💙
-Whit
