You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “A Tribute to My Dad, a POW, and a Veteran of Two very Different Wars”.
You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “A Tribute to My Dad, a POW, and a Veteran of Two very Different Wars”.
Comments
Wow…thank you!
Thank you for this post… I spent a beautiful few hours with my Grandma and Grandpa this past summer. My Grandma has fought a battle against Ahlzheimer’s for over 10 years. The Battle rages on and my Grandpa stood by her side, visiting her daily, fighting for her care until he passed away from Pneumonia. Now her sons and daughters do the same.
As I sat with my Grandma this summer – she had no idea who I was, she had told my dad just minutes before that he should “just leave me alone you big hairy toad” that comment hurt him and I could see it in his eyes. We left the room to visit with Grandpa for a few minutes and then I returned and sat by my Grandma’s bed, held her hand in mine and began talking. She pulled away at first and once told me to shut up, but as I shared stories of our childhood visits to her house, her great grandkids and their wonderful personalities – she relaxed. I remember thinking when my Grandpa died just a month later that his struggle with this horrible disease was finally over. For her and my dad, aunts, uncles and us grandkids -it continues. We fight on for her.
A final story as it does my heart good to share with people that even with this horrible disease eating away at her brain she is still truly there and loved by so many. Just the day before we visited she had been sitting in her room at the nursing home when she asked the nurse – “Can you take me to see that man who comes in here and tells me we’ve been married for 64 years?” The nurse took her down the hall to his room and they sat and talked about the kids and the grandkids and life on the farm. I am sure my Grandpa did most of the remembering that day, but she talked about family and being thankful for having family. She had not been down to see him since they had to assign them to separate rooms because of her disease (over a year had passed)… The trips were always made by him. Just 2 weeks later my Grandpa left the nursing home for the hospital with pneumonia. God has given him his rest now and I pray and know that one day when my Grandma is granted that same rest – He will be there waiting for her at the gates of heaven and they will rejoice that she no longer has to have all the pieces of her life filled in for her!
Thanks Ken,
As I said a while back on a previous blog on the topic, his spirit knew you were there and appreciated your presence. Spirit never misses a beat, never forgets… may not be able to break through as the human body takes it’s final turns but one day in eternity
he’ll probably share with you how much he was glad you were there!
Pastor Bob
Eveleth MN
God Bless You All , I have been an Alzheimers Nurse for most of my 30 years of Nursing , I Pray that people would just realize that these folks have so much to offer if we would just take the time to be there . If non vocal , touch and looking into their eyes can cross that bridge sometimes . Every human being needs touch and love , You have portrayed your father with such a sincere depth of respect and Love that it pours from your tribute and your photo’s . You are both indeed Blessed to have been given each other by our God . AMAZING LOVE !!!!!!!!! Please know that you are a very special son .
Thank you so very much for sharing this. Some of us do need this encouragement because we do have husbands and wives and we need to love them as the Father loves us. And yes sometimes it is difficult but when we ask for God’s grace he is ever faithful to fill us with His Holy love and we are blessed for our obedience to love others.
Oh, Ken, I do so understand what you’re saying about your Dad. My Mom had Alzheimer’s. It was probably, actually diagnosed a year or two after her symptoms began to appear. My Mom, the strong, young woman, widowed at 36 yrs. old who raised 4 of her 5 children alone. Four yrs. ater my Dad died, my youngest brother was killed in an accident. 16 yrs. old. I was 12 then. He was my buddy, my best friend. I wasn’t a born again Christian but he was, I knew he went to heaven. When he died, my Mom swore that she was mad at God for taking our Dad and our brother. My older brothers were all in the miitary. During Viet Nam. She bravely carried on raising me. She was the best Mom in the world, No, she wasn’t perfect, but to me she was. She taught me love, she taught me how to be strong. What I didn’t know was that the strength she instilled in me helped to feed her strength. She couldn’t stop living when Dad died, she still had us. She later remarried a real sweetheart of a man when I was about 16. Loren, my step Dad became Dad to me and he.deserved it. My sons adored Grandpa. In the later yrs. of Mom and Dad’s 29 yr. marriage, Mom got Alzheimers. Her mother and her aunt both had it. My Dad wanted to care for her himself and he did it until his health suffered. One of my brothers and I would each take one night a week to sit with Mom while Dad went bowling so he had a little respite. Sometimes his.sister stayed with her. One day I came to see Mom and she didn’t know me. I felt like a knife was stabbed into my heart. But she was still Mom. I prayed for 20 yrs. for my Mom to be saved and God answered my prayer. My Dad got saved not long after. Mom passed away in Mar. of 2001 and Dad died 2 mo. and 9 days after. Was it his heart disease, yes, I believe it was, I believe his cause of death to be a broken heart. He loved my Mother.so fiercely that just a few months before what would have been their 29th anniv. They went to be with Jesus. My prayers were fulfilled that they would go to heaven. Thank You Jesus. If I could see you Ken, I would have a huge hug for you. Sincerely, Bonnie Pruett
Mr. Davis,
Thank you for sharing this story of your father. His dedication to you, his family, his country and most important, our Savior, Christ. My heart wishes that I could meet and shake the hand or hug every veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. Our family understands that deep sacrifice required to maintain the freedoms we sometime take advantage of. Praise God you dad is in heaven and I will get to meet him there. God bless you and thanks for “living and laughing” with us. Trust me, my name was changed to idiot after Tanya and I signed our marriage certificate.
Respectfully,
Master Sergeant Dusty Storms… It’s a nickname
Ken,
You have impacted our lives so much not a day goes by that we share a comment or laugh or story line from your many DVDs. You have been kind and understanding of our son’s needs and his Autism. Allowing Joshua to recreate in his way your every movement and story line has been just precious. Now we face a challenge that has torn the very fabric of our lives. My father is a Korean Vet, eldest of 5 boys to go to war. 3 saw action there, 2 in training or stationed elsewhere. One did not make it in a training accident I was named after. Alex Gonsalez, forever proud to be in the USAF, lost his hearing in the war, always felt it was an occupational hazard. Never felt worthy to consider applying for disability at any time in his life. Always thinking it would be a waste of time to try. No one ever advocated to him from VA to apply. Finally awarded in September 2014, too little too late we are trying to appeal the amount now with the help of senators because time is of the Essence. Alex always struggled to make enough for our family taking on secondary jobs. Taking him away from many family times and sports.
Dad was diagnosed with Dementia in 2011. It took us over a year to realize how serious it was. Dad never accepted the desease until 2012 breaking down that year sometime with my wife scared to show weakness. Forever afraid to show lack of strength to me because he was always the provider. Later in 2012 I lost my job. It was the best 9 months of unemployment I had helping my dad fix up his place, helping him clean up financials instilling time with him. Taking him to places he needed to go, watching the Seattle Seahawks, his favorite sports team. Enjoying taking him hours away to his favorite fishing grounds we use to go to, an avid Seelhead fisherman in his younger days. Bad knees ending that hobby. I will never forget that memory because it was the first trip he had taken anywhere in 8 years always afraid of his prostate condition acting up. Dad hardly ever was sick but he had many injuries from knees to back to shoulder. Making it to hard for him to get around. Still driving at 83, April 2014 he was hit by an 85 year old who took a corner too fast taking out my father’s car and 2 others at a stop light ending his only joy. His health rapidly decended from there. It was time for Assisted Living then shortly after that a Memory Care facility. In August 2014 a medical drug reaction forced dad to use catheters. Then one UTI after another just devastated the health and weight of a proud Sargent of the Air Force who is now battling for his life with pneumonia. It is February 21, 2015, 5 days before his birthday. We don’t know if he will make it. We can only take each day at a time. It is day 18 and doctors still can’t stop the pneumonia. One small rally leads to reducing energy. I can no longer get enough time with my father, frustrated that he cannot heal enough to get out of the hospital that admits he probably got the pneumonia after a surgery in January. The spark of life, the twinkle in his eyes faded and gone. But as many people who have gone before him or he has forgotten he has never forgotten his first born son, his youngest brother who he misses dearly from the Korean War, forever showing pictures of him to people or his love of serving his country. Dad is my Hero.
Chuck Gonsalez
Yakima, WA
I SALUTE YOUR FATHER BECAUSE IF IT WEREN’T FOR SOLDIERS LIKE HIM I WOULD NOT BE A VETERAN
MY HAT’S OFF TO YOU SIR.