As I mentioned in my previous post, my Dad has been in the hospital since Christmas Eve. Last weekend he went into ICU. Then bounced back and got out of ICU. Now he’s back in ICU.
The head nurse said his breathing was a certain type of shallow that’s consistent with what she thought, in her experience, might be a signal toward the end. She recommended that family from out of town might want to consider making their way into town.
So I’m getting ready to make the drive. Packing. Again, actually. I made this same drive last weekend too. All was going downhill fast, and I saw him in a bad state. And then the next day he was relatively fine. We were joking around in ICU. This time seems more serious.
But apparently no one tells you how to pack for such trips. Am I supposed to bring a suit for a funeral? Or a toga for a party? So far, I’m stuck at clean underwear and a toothbrush.
If it is time for him to pass on, what’s the protocol for how long until the funeral? And where’s the “Death for Dummies” book for all this?
I know this sounds terribly morbid and all. And part of me feels guilty for even writing publicly about this. It’s my father. I’m very sad.
But there’s a practical side to all this. And in fact, I think my Dad would be thinking the same sort of way. He’d be the first one to crack some irreverent joke.
He’d also be the first one to start packing if it were me in ICU. Of course, he’d also probably just pack clean underwear and a toothbrush.
Because he knows it’s not the ‘stuff’ that matters.
