My mom would sleep downstairs in the living room on a twin bed next to my dads hospital bed. Saturday 1/25 my husband told my mom to sleep upstairs so she could rest and he would sleep downstairs to watch my dad and tend to him. My mom surprisingly agreed and came upstairs. I went to sleep around midnight, next to sweet Thea. 

Jesus came up to get me at 3:50am. He said my dad started breathing weird around 1am and he said, “ya me voy.” I went downstairs and my dad was awake, his eyes open and he was breathing with a rattle. Google calls it the Death Rattle. He wasn’t doing that at 11pm. I texted Saul & Ady. Ady replied right away.

I stayed next to him at his bedside. His eyes were open. He would try to talk but he couldn’t get anything out. Jesus & I squished his pill and put it in apple sauce and I gave it to him. Jesus went upstairs to be with Thea and I stayed with my dad. I held his hand and tried talking to him as much as I could. While we were holding hands I told him I loved him and he squeezed my hand and looked into my eyes for a second. I put his hand on my belly and he moved his finger. This was at 5:15am. The nurse I called showed up at 5:48am. My mom came down since the nurse rang the doorbell. Her and the nurse moved my dad up higher on the bed and sat him up more to help with his breathing. She gave him meds and oxygen and told us a nurse would come daily until he passes. I asked when I should tell my siblings to come and she said probably now. The nurse left at 6:17am and my mom and I stayed with my dad but my mom called Ady to come and Saul. I called Michael and he said he would head over. 

At 6:45am my dad started blabbering with his eyes open. We couldn’t make out the words but he was talking to someone. Michael arrived at 6:56am,  Ady & her husband at 7:13am and Saul and my moms brother, Weyo at 7:25am. 

We all sat with my dad and now he was breathing with the rattle and a moan. He sounded like he was having a hard time breathing. My dad’s sister, Eloisa showed up at 9am (she would stop by every Sunday before work for an hour) When she saw my dad she called into work and decided to stay. A couple from the seminar’s my dad did showed up at 10am. Then my Tia Eloisa’s husband, Tio Cuco arrived. My dad’s youngest brother Jaime arrived. My dad’s older brother Mario showed up and my parent’s long time friend Alicia and her daughter Sandra arrived. Saul and Tio Weyo went home at 10:40am because they needed to rest. Ady went into a room to nap. Jesus put Thea down for a nap also. I went into my home office to work on a paper for school. A nurse arrived at 10:58am and I went downstairs to talk to her. The living room was full of people talking while my dad was breathing hard. My mom and I were next to my dad and the nurse. She checked his feet which were now turning purple and his finger nails also and she explained that his major organs were pulling all the blood from his body and death would happen soon. She gave me her cell phone and told me to call as soon as he stopped breathing and that her shift didn’t end until 10pm and she was pretty positive it would be before then. She was very sweet and helpful. 

She also said that my dad might be waiting for the living room to clear out, everyone to leave or go to the bathroom or something so he could go. My mom told everyone what the nurse said and only 2 people left. The rest thought it was fine to sit there. I was pretty annoyed because there were so many people but mainly that were were people who weren’t related to him. Everyone was talking and laughing. There wasn’t a place to sit. I felt like it should have just been my mom and my dad’s 4 children with their families. I understand my dad’s siblings wanted to be there also and that was fine. The nurse left and I went back upstairs into the office. I submitted my paper at 11:33am and when I left the room I saw my brother Michael at the bottom of the stairs and he said Dad’s gone, he’s not breathing anymore. 30 minutes after the nurse left my dad passed away. Jesus came out of the room and my sister came out too. We went into the living room and sure enough my dad was laying there, still and quiet. 

Michael said that my Tio Mario got up to stand next to my dad and he was holding his hand when he stopped breathing. It was obvious because he was breathing so loud. I called Saul and he came back. More family showed up. My dad’s nephew Omar, his niece Eva and her husband and son, his niece Lorena & cousin, his nephew Noe, Kassandra and their baby Noah who is 12 days old, his niece Karina, his brother Jaime & his whole family, 4 missionaries from his ward, his ex-son-in-law came to drop off Emma & Ellie, his brother Noe & his 2 two sons. There were a lot of people in the living room where my dad was laying, in the kitchen and the formal living room. Thea was playing in her room with her cousins. The house was full of people who loved my dad. My mom said she didn’t want to be alone when my dad passed and she wasn’t. 

I called the nurse who came back and pronounced him dead at 12:18pm. She sat in the dining room and filled out papers, made me sign a few things and explained the next steps. Then I called Davis Funeral to come and pick my dad up. They arrived and told us to say our final goodbyes. My mom was first. She was loud and the whole house got silent. She kept thanking him and telling him how much she loves him and that she was glad he wasn’t suffering anymore. I sat and heard her talking and crying while she hugged his lifeless body. I couldn’t imagine anyone in that room loved him more than I did but she had been with him 30 years, this was her life partner who she was saying goodbye to. Michael, Ady & Saul said goodbye along with the 50thousand other people that were there. I called Jesus to come with me to say goodbye. 

Jesus stood on my left side. He kissed my dads head and he talked to him. I don’t know what he said because I was holding my dad’s hand and crying. I kissed his face and his hands and I felt how cold and stiff he was. I told him that I love him and I will see him again. The hardest moment of my entire life. The most important man in my life was gone. 

1:37pm he was carried out through the front doors and we all stood outside and watched them drive away. Thea watched as they took her grandpa and she said byeeee. I told her to blow him a kiss and say bye grandpa. I told her he went to heaven. She turned 1 year and a half the day before. 

Everyone started leaving until it was just our immediate family. We ordered pizza, the guys put his hospital bed in the garage and the small bed where my mom slept in the office. We all cleaned up, ate and then Thea & took a nap. 

I am so grateful for my husband who loved my dad like his own. My dad loved him like a son. Jesus would change his colostomy & ileostomy bags, give him food, water, medication. Jesus always made sure my dad could watch any boxing fight that was gna be on. He would run to Walmart to get any of my dads cravings. He took care of my dad and I will forever be indebted to him. 

Im grateful for Thea who napped on schedule all day and wasn’t fussy at all. She was happy and that kept me happy. She is my dad’s first biological granddaughter and she made him more happy than I ever knew possible. His phone is full of photos of her and them together. She came at the right time and has given our home so much joy. My dad would tell everyone his only sorrow was leaving Thea. He wrote her a letter before she was born & I will give it to her when she’s older. He also wrote in his journal (ipad) and always mentioned her and ended it with a photo of her. I will always talk to her about him and I know he will always be with her. 

Im grateful for my mom who loved my dad.

I’m grateful for Michael, my dad’s first born who reminds me so much of my dad. Michael got on my dad’s hospital bed and laid with him 2 weeks go. He talked to him so open and sincere and I sat and watched. I told Michael I had been wanting to do that for the longest time and I just hadn’t. He told me to do it now while I could. How I wish I would have. I’m grateful for Ady, who loved my dad like her own. She loved him so much. He would watch any show she recommended but never took my advice to watch The Office or Friends. Im grateful for Saul, who brought all medical supplies for my dad and called my mom every day to see how they were doing. My dad knew my mom would be ok because Saul would take care of her. 

I’m especially grateful for God, Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. I am sealed to my dad and I will see him again. 

Now I’m going to make a slide show, plan his funeral and write my speech.