The Last Days
It was January 1, 2008. My phone was ringing in the early morning.
- Hi, this is Dad. Please come today! Thank you.
I jumped from my bed, called the Southwest Airlines, and the same afternoon I was on my way from Baltimore, Maryland to Buffalo, New York. In Buffalo, I rented a car and drove straight to Oakville, Ontario, to my Dad's retirement home.
It was about 8:30 in the evening when I arrived there. I found him sitting in his room in his favourite armchair waiting for me. He was dressed up holding his cane, ready to go.
- What took you so long? I have been waiting for you. I am ready to go to the Nursing on the second floor.
We had difficulty maintaining conversation, but I shared with him my dinner I brought with me on my way in. He ate some and also had some water. Although I reserved a separate guest room on his floor, as I used to do so many times before, I stayed that night with him. He seemed to have regained control over himself and I thought everything had gone back to normal.
His doctor came to see him the next day and said Dad was in better health than the doctor himself.
Dad was 98-1/2 years old and we were already planning his 100th Birthday Party. But things were not the same from that January 1, 2008.
Dad was okay for several days. We even went out. I took him to his favourite restaurant not knowing that it would be the last time.
My sister and her family cut their European vacation short, and returned back to Oakville.
Dad was rapidly slowing down. First, his brain was going away and then his body gave up, too. He stopped eating in late January and finally refused to take water. He had 24 hours nursing care. He aged 20 years in one month and quitely passed away in his room in the mid-morning on February 3, 2008. Just two months earlier he looked like he was as young as 70.
He was sometimes joking with his friends by saying that God forgot about him, and that he was not getting any older for so many years. But, God finally remembered him and took him away from us.
Branislav Korenic, PhD, the son