For the last 4 years my dad has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. I haven’t talked about this a whole lot here on this blog because it has always been hard for me to talk about. Nothing has changed in that regard. This has been one of the hardest experiences I have ever gone through in my life.
For the last several weeks my dad’s health has been going downhill significantly. This has been the cause of my overall silence here at the saltlick. I guess that I have been pretty clouded and pretty distracted from everything else.
Here is a site that we have put up as a family to keep people posted on my dad’s health. It is difficult and hard for me to begin to process. I have been reading from Ecclesiastes and God has been working in my life. I keep coming back to Ecclesiastes 3 vs 1 and 11. Solomon writes that God has appointed a time for everything and everything is appropriate in its appointed time.
This is a tough pill to swallow. I am still choking on it as it goes down.
I think that I need to leave it at this for today.
I needed to tell you what is going on in my life, why I’ve been silent, and also and more importantly how you can pray for me and my family.
You can pray for my dad that God would welcome him home soon… Please pray for each one of us as we say goodbye and go through the roller coaster of saying goodbye to a father and husband. I love my dad, and I miss him already.
~Peter
5 Comments
I love you so much and I’m sorry for the pain that you are feeling now at such a distance. I keep thinking of how joyful Daddy will be to finally be with Jesus. I am so looking forward to being with you in these next days and weeks. I love you, Peter.
hey, bro…keep workin through the hard stuff…and keep holding onto the One by Whom the universe exists…He offers Himself in the midst of the broken stuff in the world…no more, no less, but thats more than enough to start the next day fresh and move forward through the rough stuff…rock on, we have been following the caring bridge posts from here, peace and love from the land of japan…dave and tamaki
Peter — Most of us at GBC had no idea that things had progressed so gravely for your Dad. My heart is aching for you, your sisters, your mom, your kids and the other grandkids. We do rejoice in his salvation, although depending on one’s mindset in the moment, that fact can do little to soothe the pain of losing him. We love your Dad, and will ALWAYS remember him as a kind, gentle, loving shepherd. We love you, your sisters and your Mom as well, more than you know. We will continue to pray for you for the Lord to ease your Dad’s suffering as he waits to be called home.
Blessings in Christ,
Ed
Peter…you have our heartfelt prayers during this time. It is filled with such mixed emotions. We understand from a couple of perspectives…Ed lost his dad way too early as well (Nicole was not quite 2 and Eddie was one month away from being born). We had watched him go through many difficult health issues and are so thankful he has entered heaven…but that didn’t make the grief process any easier here because we miss him so very much.
We are also familiar with Alzheimer’s as it has been in our families and so we understand those difficulties as well in these past 4 years.
Give yourself permission to feel what you feel and to grieve in the way that is best for you…understand it is uncharted and will overwhelm you at such unpredictable times (especially once you get through the details of the next several days). We are still overwhelmed with emotion as we watch our kids’ milestones and know how much he would have loved to experienced them with us. The celebration of their worshipping Jesus never ends either…hold fast to that truth.
We love you guys!
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