(NOTE: Photo at left is from my christening, about 1950)

I tend to forgot different things I’ve written so far, so please forgive me if I’m repeating myself.

Early this morning I gave my father a dose of morphine, not for pain, but for breathing. I only thought morphine was used for pain, but was told differently from Hospice.

I noticed an improvement shortly after the very small dose. His deep chest movements stopped.

Dad sleep for a good part of the day, although we tried to keep him awake for parts of the day. We don’t want a situation as we had a few days ago where he slept so much during the day, he was awake for much of the night.

Laying awake in a darkened room in his condition, during much of the night has to be very frightening. I do leave the dining room light on very low, so light is able to filter into the living room. I need that when I awake to check on him.

Yesterday, he was able to say goodbye to Larry Stein, a friend from the Masonis for over 50 years. Dad thanked Larry for being his friends for so many years.

Today, he was visited by Reds and Louise Goble stopped by today. Reds has been a close friend for over 70 years. My Dad thanked both of them for coming by and thanked Reds for being such a good friend all these years.

Uncle Richard and Phyllis stopped by today for about two hours. They just left. Aunt Mary and Mary Lynn just arrived, although he is about ready to go to sleep.

To show you how sharp he still is, Mary Lynn’s husband Paul Bunting, ran in a marathon today. As soon as they walked in, Dad wanted to know how Paul did in the race.

He is growing progressively weaker each day and his voice is almost gone. I believe he is starting to bleed internally.

I truely believe the end is near. He is ready to go with his mother, father, brother, and his dog ‘Pitiful’.

His mind is still sharp and there is no pain. Let’s hope the pain never arrives and he can go peaceably in his sleep.

He doesn’t want to be like this and wants to pass.

(NOTE: Photo at left is from my parents 40th wedding anniversary, June 1988)

My father had a restful night sleeping. He told my mother this morning that we doesn’t remember dreaming last night.

I gave him some cough syrup with codine before he went to bed. He had started coughing some during the late afternoon and evening. He started coughing in the middle of the night and I gave him some more.

Yesterday my father was visited by my son, and his brother and sister. His niece, Phyllis brought Uncle Richard.

Also yesterday, my Mom’s sister Fran Waldecker and her daughter, Dorothy Jean Sandusky, paid a visit.

Later in the afternoon, Nora’s father, George Skerry, picked up Larry and Sue Stein, close friends of my parents and brought them over. George and Larry and Sue only live a few blocks from each other in Ellicott City, Maryland.

My father was very happy to see them all. Larry has been one of his best friends since 1953 when my father joined the Masons. Larry was Junior Stewart of Doric Lodge #124, at that time.

The i.v. went smoothly yesterday. Also, an attendant came in to bathe him, and showed us a little of how to care for him better. Also, a nurse arrived later and changed the dressing on his pic, which is what I use for his i.v.

He really didn’t eat much yesterday, but we were able to get some candy into him. Yes, he needs more than that, but at this stage, we get what we can into him.

Last evening he stayed awake and watched the Gaithers on TV. They have a musical show of southern Gospel. This is one of my father’s favorite TV shows, which he watches every Saturday night.

He slept fairly well last night, but I was up every half hour or so to check on him. I gave him something for a fever, every time, I noticed it starting to rise.

This morning his breathing was rather heavy, although he still reported no pain.

I gave him his first dose of morphine this morning. I had always assumed it was only for pain; however, the Hospice nurse is was also for when he started to breathe deeply.

He has had one breathing treatment this morning and his 8 AM pills. I am about to give him his 10 AM pill and will start the i.v. about noon.

I was able to log on to my work computer for the first time in over a week. I finally had a few minutes to do so and go through the hundreds of emails from last week.

Starting tomorrow, I hope to log on and at least help out the company, working on the intranet and internet. Hopefully, I can still do some of my job description from here.

Right now he is resting comfortably and starting to sleep more and more each day. This is a good sign that he is resting.

His voice is very weak this morning, when he does talk. It is only a whisper.