Thanks Dad: 6/20/2003 9:53pm

[dakra]

Dear Dad,

 

These past two years have been pretty tough for me as I know it has been tough for you and mom. Although you would not show it, I know how tough it was for you when mom passed away, I know it hurt you that you did not have the strength to be there for her and I totally understand.

 

While we had our good times and bad. While there were lectures that I just did not want to hear, we had great discussions on the Yankees, on the market and on coins. I have been so proud of my collections and I owe it all to you.

 

If it wasn't for me stealing your silver dimes and quarters when I was 12 years old... I would not have experienced repaying for what I took, I would not have experienced working with a coin dealer to get back all those coins I took, it would not have put an interest in coin collecting inside me...

 

Last week, I brought over some of my silver dimes, you allowed me to go through your dimes and trade my doubles for what I needed from your collection. I believe that was the first time you trusted me with your collection and it meant the world to me.

 

Dad, your with Mom now and I will take comfort with that. You have led me through this jungle of life, you have given me great insight and advice. I miss you already but I know you are no longer in pain. I probably never said this when you were alive but I love you Dad!

 

Robert W. b: 2-15-32 d: 6-20-03

 

 

 

 

 

[FC57coins]

 

 

And adding my condolences as well - As a father it struck me that the tone was that of a loving son - which is the greatest gift any dad could want.

[TomB]

I am sorry to hear of your loss.

[PQSeated]

My condolences go out to you and your family. It's hard to accept loss, but sometimes you have to look at it as them going to a better place.

[Beijim]

Please accept my condolence. Your words are very touching. I love and miss my dad as well, and this reminds me how much.

 

Sincerely,

Beijim

[dakra]

Thanks for your kind words. My Dad has had emphasima for a long time, it seemed all of a sudden things took a turn for the worse. Thursday Morning he was admitted to the hospital and today was his day.

 

Yesterday, I felt pretty upbeat about his condition but today things appeared to go downhill. I quipped to my sister earlier in the day that tomorrow I was going to buy a coin (like the 1924 Peace I saw on Legends site) just as a symbolic jesture, now it definately would be a symbolic gesture.

 

There's so much I want to write but I think the best thing for me at this point is to try to hit the sack. Tomorrow is probably going to be a very busy day for me.

 

-Dave

[ursabear-migration]

I am sorry for your loss. My dad left us a short few years back from multiple cancers.

 

I appreciate your post. I wish you the best - now it is up to me to do my best for my own son and hope that when my time comes he will remember with happiness.

 

Godspeed to you. If ever I can be of help to you, please PM me. I would be glad to help in any way I can.

 

Sincerely.

 

Jim

[chrisfuccione]

Dave: I am very sorry to hear about your loss. I wish I had the right thing to say to help you right now but I don't. If there is anything I can do pm me. CHRIS

[braddick]

May God be with you and yours.

[Hoot]

Blessings upon you Dave. Be well, and I know you'll have the courage you need in this time. Your Mom and Dad will be with you in all of you endeavors.

 

Hoot

[mark]

Dave:

 

A very sad time for you. Losing your parents is tragic event. I hope that everytime you look at a coin from your Dad's collection, you remember the great times you had. If you have kids, I hope that when you look at these coins, you use that moment to teach your kids about your parents and their lives so that your kids, too, can love them. I do this and while it doesn't eliminate the hurt from losing my folks, it helps me to remember them...

 

All my sympathy and prayers go to you and your loved ones.

 

Mark

[stman]

May they rest in peace. As someone who has lost a great deal of family including parents, wife, dog, in the last several years do to death, all I can say is.... time won't heal the pain, but will make it not as sharp.

 

 

[GDJMSP]

My condolences Dave. That was one of the most touching letters I have ever read and know your Dad would be proud.

[EVillageProwler]

My deepest condolences...

 

EVP

 

[tb]

Thank you for the very touching message. You are very fortunate to

have been able to share your hobby with your father. I lost a parent

to cancer at a young age and my thoughts go out to you and your

family.

 

Hans (on a brief visit from the comics boards)

 

[ms66quarters]

Dakra

 

I can feel for you, I lost my dad 19 years ago, and I still miss him dearly.

 

Very touching message, if you have children, turn your attention and compassion towards them. It will make your dad VERY proud.

 

sorry for your loss

 

 

Rob

[Oldtrader3]

Dave:

My condolences to you and to your family for your loss. The only thing that I can say from experience is that, hopefully, it may not have been a painful death. I say this from my own experiences. My children were told that I had maybe 3 days to live early in February, 03.

 

I had Emphysema, Pneumonia, Hypoxia, complicated by Kidney and Congestive Heart Failure. However, I have no memory of the first week of my illness. I spoke to people during that period and recognized them, said things to them that indicated I did not know what was happening, but remember nothing. The Hypoxia left me concious but totally unaware of my condition, physical pain or anything. Then the first hospital sent me home after a week, when I still had Pneumonia et cetera and had not responded to the Antibiotics (I was allergic to them). The decision to send me home was made without the consent of my GP.

 

Unfortunately, my children all lived in other states, and I could not remember how to charge the battery or use my Cell Phone, let alone my home phone. At home, I was told by a (Case Follow-up) Nurse to go to another Hospital, because I was too sick to be at home and was unable to care for myself. This second Hospital would not admit me, because I was not lucid and could not express my condition well enough to convince the ER Resident that I was sick (even though I have 2 Health Insurance Policies).

 

This stupid ER Resident (Doctor(?), who should lose her License!) called one of my out-of-state children on my cell phone, asked the child what was wrong with me and what Med's I took. However, she would not call my Family Doctor, because it was after 8:00PM and she did not want "to bother him", even though (or maybe because) he was on this Hospital's Staff. This insufficiently_thoughtful_person ER Resident then sent me back out on the streets to wander.

 

Problem was that I did not know where I lived, had no money, no car keys (I think I was mugged) and really no sense of the dire circumstances that I was in, never having been homeless until that very day, despite owning a home that I could not find. I wandered the streets of Santa Rosa until late evening, got cold, hungry and finally had the presense of mind to start knocking on doors, hoping to get arrested.

 

Fortunately, the police did arrest me, had a report on me from finding me in my house, irrational and semi-unconcious on the couch prior to the first hospitalization. The Police called a friend (who had called the Police earlier). My friend told the Police what was wrong with me, that I was not Mentally Ill, just ill and they took me back to the same Hospital ER that sent me home (a Catholic Charity Hospital, if you can believe that!). The same sub-insufficiently_thoughtful_person ER Resident, that had sent me home, finally called my GP Doctor at Midnight, at home. He came in to the ER, told the Resident what a insufficiently_thoughtful_person she was (in my presense), and ordered Admission and treatment.

 

The stupid Resident already had tests showing abnormal chest x-rays (Pnuemonia/Emphysema), kidney (abnormal Creatin), blood tests (severe anemia) and heart function problems, but she managed to ignore every one of these tests. Plus, I wear a "Medic Alert" Bracelet, listing all of these things (DUH!!!!). Maybe she could not read! HooRay, for modern Cost Containment Medical Care.

 

I lost 50 pounds(down to 120 pounds), during 5 weeks in the this Hospital and am still recovering, although greatly improved since March. When I first went home, I needed 12 hour care and could not eat solid food or stand up for more than 10 seconds. I have been since tested and have some brain damage, from this ordeal, mostly short-term recall, nothing permanent or really critical.

 

I somehow survived and your Dad unfortunately did not. However, I certainly can relate to your situation, your Dad's Disease and your feelings from my own children's perspective which, fortunately, I lived long enough to hear.

[dakra]

I had Emphysema, Pneumonia, Hypoxia, complicated by Kidney and Congestive Heart Failure. However, I have no memory of the first week of my illness. I spoke to people during that period and recognized them, said things to them that indicated I did not know what was happening, but remember nothing. The Hypoxia left me concious but totally unaware of my condition, physical pain or anything.

 

Hey Dad, is that you?

My Dad was basically the same but there was nothing the doctors could do. He had Emphysema for a very long time and he refused to see a doctor. Two Saturday's ago, I went to visit him and although he felt sick, he was well enough to walk 10 feet to the kitchen... he sat in the kitchen for a while to talk to my Wife and my son. From what I understand the next Sunday he wouldn't even get out of bed, he didn't want to eat anything, he didn't want to drink anything. Of course, no one told me anything so I was not there to offer any help or support. Wednesday Morning I received an email from my sister who is a nurse which basically stated "everyone has been asking me about Dad.... I think he has 2 weeks to live at most"... which was quite shocking to me because I had seen him the week before. When my mom was sick with cancer, my sister gave her just a few months to live for two years.... so hearing that my Dad had only 2 weeks was... frustrating.

On Thursday I came home from work during lunch time and had a message from my brother that my Dad was taken to the hospital. I decided to go back to work, let my boss know what was going on and finish out my day. When my brother called he had stated that my Dad was in a coma, that the CO2 was building up in his body because his lungs were weak and could not get rid of it, it caused him to get a certain "high" from it... in which he was unaware of what was going on. An X-ray revealed Pneumonia or another mass in his lungs.

 

I went to the hospital Thursday night and I could see that he was very weak but in a coma??? He was opening and closing his eyes, he seemed aware, he lifted his hand at one point... it threw me off and when I left the hospital that night, I felt confident that he would pull through. Friday when I got to the hospital he never opened his eyes, his breathing was heavy... his whole body was cool because his blood stayed by his extemedies, the nurse even said it was due to his body shutting down. They wanted to give him morphene for his pain and in my experience with my wife's mom and my own mom, it just seems that once they give that morphene... it's just a matter of time. I was at the hospital all day, the nurse and Dr's assistant came in, said "morphene" and I went home to be with my family.... two hours after I got home, my sister called....

 

We went through some of my Dad's stuff yesterday and while we were going through his stuff, we had a thunderstorm. He never liked when we went through his stuff so... I suppose he was expressing his displeasure... I didn't think he would have so much power so soon

 

In any case, the next three days are going to be quite busy and I just wanted to let everyone know that I appreciate the outpouring of support.

 

Thanks,

Dave

[dakra]

Thanks guys for your support and thoughts. It's going to be a busy next few days, hopefully in the coming weeks I can take great pride in going through my Dad's collection and if there is anything out of the ordinary, I'd love to share it with you guys but in my experience, his collection was just ordinary silver circulated coins... although circulated, I'm sure many of his coins will become part of my own collection.

 

One thing I didn't know he had until just a few weeks ago was that he had quite a few Mercury dimes, I never figured I would collect Merc's but now I may work on a collection of them.

 

Another thing I may do is combine my Dad's wheaties with my "hoard" and let the kids/parents pick through them. Get them interested in coins and give them something to remember dad/grandpa.

 

-Dave

[msmhappy]

David, Sorry to here about your loss. Sounds like your dad was a wonderful human being. And that you loved him very much!!

 

I still have my grandfathers stamp collection in its intirety ( except for all the sheets that grandma sold for the cash in 1979 ). And plan to never dismantal it ever!!!

I do collect stamps, but none of which I collect are combined with his. I keep his separate, where as I can enjoy and respect what he had accomplished!!!!

 

take care,

 

mike

 

 

[SarasotaFrank]

Dave:

 

I just visited this board for the first time in a long time. I am heartfully sorry to hear of your loss.

 

Frank

 

[Dog97]

A touching post. I'm sorry hear about it.

The suddeness is always shocking. We always think they will be around forever.