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bigtree

(94,429 posts)
7. my dad
Sun Dec 2, 2018, 11:15 AM
Dec 2018

...had Alzheimer's disease and hadn't spoken in months. I was feeding him, changing him... all a privilege to give back to the man who had raised me.

We had taken care of him for 3 years in our home and it had just become impossible... The night before we had to take him to the nursing home, he looked up at me and said, "You did a good job."

I could barely answer, but I managed to croak out, "What?!"

"You did a really good job," he answered.

Dad lived for a year and a half more, and those were the last words he spoke to me. I'll never be able to put into words what that meant to me.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

A father's last words... [View all] Raven Dec 2018 OP
wonderful... I'm glad you were able to receive that final gift... hlthe2b Dec 2018 #1
What a wonderful gift he gave you both. MLAA Dec 2018 #2
A gift. irisblue Dec 2018 #3
My Dad lost his power of speech about a week before he died. But he still communicated Siwsan Dec 2018 #4
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us. n/t ok_cpu Dec 2018 #5
Siwsan, I've kept this post of yours open in a tab for months. JudyM Apr 2019 #21
You've brought tears to my eyes Siwsan Apr 2019 #22
Yes, yours is a beautiful story that brought tears to my eyes as well. JudyM Apr 2019 #23
I am happy you had that. That won't happen for me. cpamomfromtexas Dec 2018 #6
my dad bigtree Dec 2018 #7
Beautiful DesertRat Dec 2018 #16
My dad had Alzheimer's too. MontanaMama Dec 2018 #18
I remember so well my last conversation with dad. lark Dec 2018 #8
A priceless gift. We strive our whole lives to provide for our children, yet here is a gift that FailureToCommunicate Dec 2018 #9
I am dealing with "this stuff" right now. Botany Dec 2018 #10
There are so many beautiful stories here and quite a few heartaches. I hope we all can help erronis Dec 2018 #11
Thank you for sharing. StarryNite Dec 2018 #12
This story gave me a lump in my throat. You were very lucky, and so was he. Honeycombe8 Dec 2018 #13
Posts like this are windows into humanity. I always read them, as my dad left in a special way, too. DFW Dec 2018 #14
"give me one last kiss and let me go" were my dad's last words to my mom Hamlette Dec 2018 #15
My dad's last words were, defacto7 Dec 2018 #17
What a fantastic and beautiful gift he gave to you! PatrickforO Dec 2018 #19
To all of you, a DU hug Hekate Dec 2018 #20
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