It's Over Now

Dad's long battle with cancer is now over.  He passed away at 6:10 a.m. Mountain Time today, April 28, 2009.  He didn't sleep at all Sunday night and had a difficult day yesterday (Monday).  He was very anxious all day and had difficulty breathing, but we thought that it was due to the lack of sleep and that if he just got a good night's rest he would be back on track.  Unfortunately, at about 4:30 a.m. the hospital called my mom and said that we should come up as soon as possible.  She called my other siblings and me and told us to head up as soon as we could.  My mom, Clayton and Makell made it to the hospital in time to say goodbye.  The rest of us (all of Jim's kids, plus several of his siblings, his grandkids, and a nephew) didn't make it in time though.

Things at the hospital didn't go quite as smoothly as we would have liked.  Dad wanted to donate any organs he could, but the only ones they would take were his eyes.  So, we sat around waiting for the harvester to come, but it was taking much longer than they had told us it would.  We called the eye bank and found out that the harvester had gone to Pioneer hospital instead of the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center.  He finally made it, completed his task and then called the mortuary to tell him he was finished and that they could come to pick up Dad's body.  He told us they would only be about half an hour or so.

We waited around, some of us in my Dad's room, the rest of us out in the lobby, but it was again taking much longer than we had expected.  I called the mortuary to see what was going on and they told me that the driver had just arrived and was waiting for security to let him in.  We waited for about another 15 minutes and he still hadn't shown up.  I went out and asked the nurse if she could call security and see what was happening.  When she hung up the phone she had a very odd look on her face and was shaking her head.  She looked at me and said, "They picked up the wrong body."  I just looked at her for a second and then asked, "Really?"  She nodded her head and I just said, "Well, I guess it's just one of those days."  Security called the mortuary and had the driver turn around and come back.  He finally made it up to Dad's room and all of us who were still there then left.  It was about noon.

Mom, Mariah, Enrique, Coleton, Jen and myself went and picked out burial plots at the Lindon City Cemetery this afternoon, and we will be meeting with the mortuary and the bishop tomorrow.  We are tentatively planning the funeral for Monday, May 4, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. with a viewing at 11:00 a.m that day, as well as Sunday night.  I will post more details when the plans are more concrete.

Thank you to everyone who has visited, called, posted comments, and for all the other support we are receiving today.  Dad was a wonderful man who touched so many people's lives, and it means so much to us to hear what he meant to all of you.