Cry until you can’t cry anymore…then cry some more

Over the past month, the pain I have felt is like none other. In a matter of 2.5 weeks, I lost both my brother-in-law and my father. On March 21st, my brother-in-law Miguel lost his battle with cancer. Knowing him for more than 38 years, he was significantly more than a brother-in-law and more like a brother. I was glad to be there with the rest of the family in Florida and was glad to participate in his Celebration of Life Service at his church on Good Friday, March 29, 2018. I was the first family member to speak about my relationship with him.

Here is the memorial video that was played at the Church:

Here is the Eulogy I gave.

http://ralphhered.blogspot.com/2018/04/miguels-eulogy-march-29-2018.html

On April 1st, I drove back from Ft. Myers to Greenville and got home around 9PM. I called my dad and told him that I was tired, but that I had arrived. I told him that I would see him the next day and he said ok. See you tomorrow. I went to work on Monday the 2nd, and at 5PM I received a call from my sister that dad was not responding. I rushed home, through rush hour traffic and was frustrated that what should have taken me 10-12 minutes to get home, took closer to 30.

I walked through the door, only to find EMS inside the house trying to do CPR to my dad. After about 10 minutes of me being there, they pronounced he had passed. I was numb, and could not believe what was happening. My dad lived to be 82 years old and had been living in SC for the past 13 years. I was his only son, and the oldest in the family and now felt lost and did not know what to do next. I am normally a pretty level headed and methodical person but this left me with my legs shaken and head in a cloud that felt like a very bad dream.

On Saturday, April 7, 2018, we held a funeral for dad.

Here is the memorial that his grandchildren and I prepared:

Here is the Eulogy that my sisters and I worked on:

http://ralphhered.blogspot.com/2018/04/dads-eulogy-april-7-2018.html

I will miss the beautiful times I had with both of them and know that I will struggle to go even 30 minutes without thinking of them.

I will continue to try to focus on the great memories that I had with both of them but know that at times, I will struggle to keep it together as I miss the precious moments that we had and the things that I did together with both of them. Over the next few posts, I will highlight some of those, just so that I can remember them down the road and share with everybody, how wonderful these two people were and the impact that they had in my life.

I miss you both Dad and Miguel. I hope that you are playing Dominoes in heaven, and that you both really understood how much you meant to me.