"My Father" Learning Log

Dear friends,

On July 15, 2007 @ 12:45 pm, my father passed away after a long illness. He died in the Emergency Room at the Melrose Wakefield Hospital surrounded by his family and had a peaceful parting from this world. We celebrated his 80th birthday, just 6 short weeks ago. He had a complicated medical history with two CABGs, had insulin dependent diabetes, end stage renal disease and received hemodialysis at least three times a week. He had multiple episodes of pneumonia, arthritis, gout and additional ailments. Although my father was not a general, he fought many battles. His strength and will to live far surpassed any of our expectations. Physicians were amazed at his endurance coping with multiple diseases and multiple system's failure. He kept rebounding after being so ill, especially the past four years. My only conclusion, in addition to modern medicine, was the power of love. Before leaving the funeral home on Wednesday night, the collage I had made of he and I, fell off the stand. This was witnessed by my daughter and her friend who were down the hallway. There was no one nearby, there was no explanation. I felt my father's presence. When we think of someone we love, they are with us, no matter where they are physically.

Over the past six days, I have incorporated, "Information, Research, and Technology " in to the planning and preparation of my father's funeral. My father wrote his own obituary 10 years ago and we tried to follow it the best we could. I had requested a slide show in memory of my father, but the funeral home did not have the technology. Instead, I created my own personal digital photo frame on Monday, including almost 1,000 photos. I sent an email with photo of my father to the funeral director to be incorporated in to the prayer card for guests who attended the wake. I followed up on this the next day, only to hear from the director, that his computer was down and he never received my request. I had to find someone else to print the prayer card after the fact. I created a program for the funeral Mass after spending many hours of research and compiled the information together myself. The obituary is in the process of being rewritten as the printing was done unprofessionally and inaccurately. On Thursday morning, I gave the Eulogy.

The "Information, Research, and Technology" course provided me with additional resources and skills to overcome many of the obstacles that my family had to endure during this difficult time. In retrospect, the funeral home (chosen by my father years ago for his final resting place) was purchased by a corporation not providing the service that he once knew. The lesson learned was the importance of research for any event or function prior to the actual event, but who knew? We relied on professionals to guide us through.

I hope to be on track with our final week of the class. I will enjoy reading everyone's Blogs in more detail once things settle down for me. I have been so fortunate to have met you all.

Mary Anne