Gone at 5:30 am

Dad quietly stopped breathing this morning after a day and a half of gulping breaths with violent effort. I had just dipped a swabbing sponge in fresh water and put it to his lips. When I swabbed his mouth I talked to him because sometimes even through closed eyes people can hear. If he couldn’t hear my words over the sound of his breath he could certainly hear my love through the touch of my hands. I put the swab to his lips and he stopped for a moment. Then he took a gentler inhale as I rubbed the sponge around his mouth. And he didn’t take another breath. I waited, but he never took another breath.

So I laid my head on his arm and I cried. His pain was finished. I know that mine has barely begun.

1 reply
  1. Janey Smith says:

    Stan was a swell guy, knew his stuff about racing! Always calm and collect. Always listened thoughtfully! Both Stan and Pauline were great when I would finish a session on track! I always miss the lunches with Pauline while we arranged my airline schedule for PPG each year! We always tried out new places around where she worked. They were the best.

    It is never easy losing a parent or friend! We just know the suffering was not good and that now there is calm for them. I have always thought that was the best way of thinking. And for those that have passed on they did their job here and God wants them with him now! We are spirits living in these bodies. Bless them both!

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