Daddy's Little Girl(s)

As I sit here in the garden house I think back to the time when this was first built. Originally it was used as a shed to store our stuff in when we sold our house and moved here. Hubby and my daddy built it. Later on we moved it down the hill and made it to what you see today. This brings back a lot of memories, ones that I will always hold onto. My daddy passed away October 9th.......
My daddy was born to hard working people, a family of nine children, with him being the eldest.  Such a cute chubby child he was in this photo, hard to believe that he was ever that little. Oh, he had such a love of the outdoors from the time he was little until he died.  Hunting, fishing, walking the mountains, and teaching others  his knowledge of all of it was a great joy to him.
Even with his love of the mountains he still wanted to get out and explore the world, and of course back in the 50's jobs were hard to come by so he joined the Air Force.  Along the way he met my mom, they were married for 55 years.  He told me once he never planned on staying in for 20 years, but there were not that many jobs at the time he thought of getting out for him to provide for his family.  Plus he said he knew with 20 years my mom would be looked after and secure with the retirement. Among those early years I came along.  His sister told me that when they brought me home to the mountains they could tell how happy he was with daddy's little girl.

The years pass and along comes another little girl, my daughter.  Oh what joy she gave him!  I remember when I was pregnant with her he told me it was going to be a girl and he wouldn't take no for an answer! He took her outside in the garden, fishing, camping, and lots of other things.  Even though he had a son I guess little girls just won his heart, and he was going to show us how to do everything!
This little girl is all grown up too, and she has her story to share on her blog.  Here is a link to it http://www.liketheblueinthesky.blogspot.com/ Trust me, it is a real tear jerker as she misses him so much.
When I was dating my hubby my dad and hubby were hunting one year (we dated for a while) when my father asked him are you going to marry my daughter or what? LOL!  My hubby had already purchased the rings, but he did not want to say anything, and as he said he knew my dad was a good shot! They had 17 years of hunting and fishing together.  Look how young we all looked.  We didn't realize it then, but a genetic disease of too much iron in the body (hemochromatosis) had already started its work.  Although it was managed for a long, long time.  
The beautiful lady who gave birth to him all those years ago is still around.  Here is a photo taken last year of the two of them together.  It is one of my very favorites.  She had lost another son 20+ years ago to the same disease.  Through him we found out about it.  My grandmother turned 95 years old five days before my father passed away.  I can't even imagine the pain.
My time blogging has been slow.  When we found out about the iron causing the tumors three years ago I spent quite a bit of time going over to my parents house.  His doctors were so amazed with him.  They knew he had the cancer, but as his family doctor said he had seen cancer patients before and he looked nothing like them.  My father was a fighter, and a very strong man; although he only had a chemo treatment one time he said if it only prolonged his life for just a short while then he was not going to continue it.  He surprised everyone for living those three years.  The last time he saw his cancer doctor he was told that it would be his last visit, it was time to go on hospice.  The hospice nurses had good laughs with him, but they also admired his strength and his will to live. I moved in with my parents the second week of hospice to help take care of him.  I slept on the couch next to his hospital bed so my mom could have her rest, and  that way I could be close to him.  It was his wish to die at home and not in some ******hospital as he said, and I made a promise that it would be so. Our family came in from out of town.  He was still partially awake during that time, and I believe the hardest thing was watching my grandmother.  My hubby and daughter came over all but one day. That Monday my hubby said a prayer while next to him, and on that evening of Monday, October 8th, I told my mom to go on to bed.  I knew his time was coming soon.  I stayed awake in the chair next to him, reaching out to comfort him when needed even with his being in a coma at that time. Early Tuesday morning, October 9th, he passed away.  They say it is hard to be with someone when it happens.  I was with my mother-in-law, and then my dad.  It is not easy I agree, but to me it is also a peaceful blessing. I can only hope that with the rest of my life that I will be able to carry on with the strength and will that he had.  To be able to face the future and whatever may come before me as he did. As I sit here in my garden house looking at what he helped built, and the beautiful outdoors with the fall colors I realize that there will always be those memories.  Yet the most important memory of all is that I kept my promise and  I will always be Daddy's little girl.