my strong daddy

Yesterday I was at work and I saw that my sister Julie was calling my cell phone, and I thought, "why is she calling me when she knows I'm at work?" I didn't think much of it. Then my sister Kathy called me a few minutes later, but I didn't answer again because I don't like to take personal calls at work.

A few minutes later I noticed I had a text message from my sister Kathy. I opened it and it said, "Dad just had another heart attack. Call me." My dad had a heart attack five years ago, and now bad luck strikes again.

My mom and dad were on a mission in the Las Vegas, Nevada mission and were serving in Needles, California...until yesterday.

This is what my sister Julie wrote on our family website about what happened:

"My mom and Dad normally walk for 30 minutes each morning. Well, my dad had wanted to get a little more walking time in, so he woke up around 5:30 to go walk himself for about 30 minutes. Well, half way through his walk he felt what started out as a feeling of indigestion and then quickly escalated to severe chest pains. He went back to the apartment and was in major pain (a 10 on a scale of 0-10). My mom called 911 and the ambulance took him to the Needles hospital. That hospital is a smaller one however, with no cardiologist, ICU, or all the equipment needed. They did an EKG and gave him Morphine and airlifted him to the Las Vegas hospital.

The hard part for us was a few hours of not knowing literally whether he would make it though this. My mom called me in a panic and was grabbing a few things at the apartment before driving herself up to Las Vegas (a 2 1/2 hour drive) to the hospital. She said that my dad looked pale (from no blood pumping through his body) and in a cold sweat when she last saw him. It was hard for her to say goodbye to him when he was airlifted out...not knowing if it would be the last time. She said that he told her he loved her and to tell us kids he loved us (as if saying a possible goodbye) and that he has lived a life with no regrets."


And here is what my sister Kathy said:

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also...or something like that. My dad puts his whole heart litterally into serving the Lord. He was feeling a little disappointed I think that his missionary service may be done for now. I was so glad to live close to Las Vegas to be able to be with my parents during all of this. When i got there he was still in surgery. They were wheeling him down the hall and we saw him. He didn't know that i was there. When he saw me ....with all his cords and monitors and everything he grabbed my cheeks and kissed me on the lips (we are not a lip kissing family) and said i love you sooooooo much and i am so happy you are here. He was slurring his words and was completely drugged over but i was just so happy to see him and here those words. Surprised a bit for the kiss but happy that he was alive and recovering. He slept much of the time I was there but would wake up and talk then fall asleep mid sentence. Even while laying there he was wondering about people they were surposed to teach that day, if my mom had talked them. We had a billion calls and visits from people from needles, the mission and family. Thanks! Now we all await the news to hearhow much heart damage was done. my mom forgot her phone charger so calling her will be less effective but i will try to keep people posted. love you all and thats for the support at this time."

I left work after I got the news. I couldn't just sit at work not even knowing if my dad was alive or not. Don came home for about 20 minutes, on his lunch break, to be with me. He said a great prayer. Cori hung out with me the rest of the day. It was great!

Now we all just take one day at a time.