Holding on as long as we could

 I took as many pictures of everyone holding dad's hand.

This picture above was me and my dad was squeezing my hand.

 

Irene just taking a moment with our dad and holding his hand.

 

Josh was sooooo sweet. He could not hold dad's hand enough.
He was so heart broken to see grandpa like this.
My dad always treated Josh and Devan as his own grandkids. He loved them so much!

 

 Clay was talking to dad and told him to grab his arm, it was right there, and dad grabbed him. He continued to respond to us through his movements and the things that we would tell him to do. 

This is my mom holding onto my dad's hand and still so FAITHFUL and HOPEFUL for a miracle.



Special Kisses

“The mouth is made for communication, and nothing is more articulate than a kiss.”

 “Close your eyes and I'll kiss you, Tomorrow I'll miss you.”

My mom and dad have ALWAYS loved kissing!!!
They would kiss in front of us kids ALL OF THE TIME!!
We loved to see the affection between the two of them and proof of how 
much they loved each other.

My dad even though he wasn't awake he still demanded kisses from my mom.

 When he would hear her voice from the other room, he would automatically close his lips and that was an indication to us that he wanted kisses from her.

So we would yell for her, "Mom, dad is closing his mouth, he wants kisses."

 She would come running over and kiss his lips so tenderly.

We could see that he was still enjoying those kisses!!!

These pictures are sooo tender and loving of two people who have been through sooooo much in their 45 years together. But have endured so much in the last 2 1/2 years together.

I love my parents so much!!!

These are pictures from the hospital and some of their shared kisses. This was the day before we took dad home and was put in hospice. They love each other so much and it shows!!

Visitors come from Everywhere

So many people came to see my dad the last few days. Even though he wasn't coherent, he knew they were there. He was such a loved man.

 

 His brother Elliott got there on Monday morning and stayed by his side the whole day. He kept saying that when my dad left the island when he was 11 and my dad was 18, he cried and cried because his brother left him. He said that it was the saddest day of his life. Now he is crying again, because his brother is leaving him again. He loved my dad so much and my dad LOVED his brother so much!!

The counselors from Liahona Academy came to say their good byes.

It was sooo special to watch them and listen to what they said to my dad.

They LOVED him sooo much!!!! He LOVED them just as much!!

His Aunty Evalani came to see him. She hasn't traveled in 20yrs.

This was the first time leaving the island of Molokai.

When she heard that my dad was dying she didn't even think twice, she knew she needed to be here.

When she was here she made a comment, "That he was suppose to be mine!"

We found out that when my grandma was pregnant with my dad she was thinking about giving him up for adoption to Aunty Evalani, but ended up keeping him and raising him with Grandpa.

She still helped raise him and LOVED him as her own, his whole life!!!

It was wonderful having them come to see him and meeting them for the first time.

Of course Uncle Sale was at his side for a few days. Aunty and Uncle drove down as soon as they heard and slept in their car for two days, outside of Irene's house. Uncle Sale and my dad had a special bond.

I set up a time to Skype with the family from Hawaii on Sunday night.

I just wanted them to see my dad before he left us. Even though he couldn't talk to them he responded by shirking his shoulder towards them. We would say,

"Dad if you can hear us shirk your shoulder!"

He always responded.

Our good friends,The Daltons came to see dad.

Navy and Trevor have been best friends for years.

My dad knows Navy from watching him and Trevor play soccer.

He would come with Trevor to the hospital and rehab to see dad all of the time.

It was so nice of them to come and say good bye to dad.

Brian and Tina Henderson drove all of the way from California as soon as they saw on Facebook that dad was on hospice.

They loved my dad so much. My dad married them and kept a close eye on Brian as

he was a teenager. 

Hospice Care for Dad

 My heart is broken!!!

My dad has been transferred to hospice and they don't give him much time to live.

We had a meeting with all of the Dr.'s and nurses and they said that the fluid in overtaking dad's body and that he will drown in his own fluids because his body isn't expelling the fluid.

They have tried everything and dad's body isn't responding.

Dad was taken to Irene's home for hospice care. We all decided to camp out and stay with him until the time came for him to leave us. These pictures were taken by Cambria (secretly-without my knowledge) until a month later when she sent them to me. I am so grateful for these pictures.

I hope my dad knew how much I LOVED him and how all I wanted to do was care for him!

Irene is doing the morphine drip. Irene learned from the nurse and taught, Tia, Joe and Julee.

They all took turns administering the medicine.

(I didn't trust myself so I opted out of learning)

 

Aunty Joyce and Uncle Sale came as soon as they heard. They have been so wonderful and supportive for my mom and dad. They have always been there for our family. We love them soo much! We sat in the same room with dad and watched old home videos. We loved hearing dad's voice and seeing the dad that we grew up with on the TV. The kids loved seeing dad and how funny he was. Irene's house was the smallest but it was so cozy for everyone to be there.  It was so sweet of Irene to open her home. It was exactly where we were all suppose to be. The spirit in Irene's home was beautiful.

Irene and Clay's ward was amazing and Irene's neighbor's could not do enough for our family.  

They kept bringing food, mattresses, drinks, anything we needed they were there. We had 3 wonderful family home evenings with dad and allowing everyone to share their feelings about dad and saying their good byes. It was a wonderful experience with all of my siblings. We were there from Friday, Sept 6th-Monday, Sept 9th.

Dad's last meal

Dad was finally given the ok to eat. He wasn't starving like the other times but the only thing that he requested was a hamburger and strawberry shake. So my cute mom cut his hamburger in pieces so it would be easier for him to eat. He only ate a couple bites of his hamburger and drank half of his shake and had some jello. 

While he was eating, everyone in the room was watching football.

Dad loves to watch football with his sons and grandsons.

My mom LOVES to kiss his lips.

My dad was in so much pain.

They were both so exhausted!!

This is as close as my mom could get to my dad.

Dad held Andrew "Maze"

 Andrew "Maze" came from heaven a few days before our dad and his grandpa left for heaven.

They were able to meet here on earth, but "Maze" knows what a beautiful place he will be going to.

 This was the day before we took dad home for Hospice care.

As I look on my precious father's face, I can now see the pain that he can NO longer hide from us.

His smile is gone and it is so evident from the look on his face.

We are so grateful that he was able to meet his last grandchild #27.

Dad has such a great posterity.

LOVE Letters from Friend Mark Gosswiller

·        My dad, Mark Gosswiller, misses your dad terribly. They were the closest of friends, many moons ago. I told him what has been going on in your family as of recent and I asked my dad what some of his favorite memories are with your dad. This is what he told me:

I remember they called us the biggest and strongest bishopric ever. We use to put Wayne Wakumoto between us and have a group hug. Wayne would disappear. :)

Bishop and I were always having competition to see who could lose the most weight. Neither of us did very well back then

When I quit working for the bank down in Compton, it was Bishop AhQuin that hooked me up with Manny Serrano and helped me get a job there. And since Manny was a new convert bishop requested that I kneel in prayer with Manny every morning before work started. So, we did. It worked out good for the company and relationship at that time

Bishop and I were walking across the gym one day and a bunch of young adults were playing volleyball, and they asked us to play. We were in suits, but you know the bishop, he didn’t care, he loved the young adults, so we played. Got all sweaty and tired, then went to his office.

I have so many stories and will share more if they want them.

Love, Mark

Of course! Your family was and will always be an intricate part in what made me such a strong woman and dedicated mother to my girls. And my love for my dad is a direct mirror of how you feel about your yours. Strong and eternal.
Positive loving thoughts sent your way.
I will be in touch soon with more goodies.