All,
I haven’t posted in a while, but I changed jobs and had our first daughter in June. Living in California has made it challenging for my folks to travel out (both being disabled) from Houston. On their second visit out here for Christmas and New Years, my father became ill. He had good vitals in summer, but was a new diabetic with poor habits for checking his blood. I called them everyday to check on them and make sure they were doing well. He seemed different before he came out (tired and aged) and he was hospitalized on 1/16 for chest pain and dehydration. He went into diabetic ketoacidosis and it caused a heart attack. He was fighting to get out of DKA so they could intervene on his heart, but time ran out. My last time spent with him while he was somewhat cognizant was watching the Texans and Ravens. That night, everything went bad and he passed the next day. It was so fast that I’m still trying to figure things out. I find myself wishing I could have done more to be there or acted sooner.
My dad was my hero, and the staunchest UH supporter despite never attending. He went to college visits with me and appreciated the honesty at the school. We always talked about the Coogs during the season. He was proud that I attended the school and experienced being on the SOH that did the Super Bowl half time. He and my mother came down to visit games to support me. Being from the rust belt and a blue collar guy from a very poor background, he was salt of the earth no nonsense.
In the last 8 years he became a caregiver for my mom, retiring 6 years ago from congestive heart failure. He was a tough and strong man, but also a committed husband and dedicated father. This caught us all by surprise. He wanted to live life on his terms which didn’t comply with medical recommendations.
Shortly after, my mother had a mild heart attack from grieving. Thank god she is okay and recovering here with us. We’re trying to get her to live with us for the foreseeable future and determine if we’ll move back to Texas next year like we had originally planned.
I suppose beyond sharing my loss of one of my best friends and Coog fan, I am hoping that all of you who are caring for aging or young family members to hang in there.
