Last night as I was heading into work I watched a fire truck pull up to a bus stop near my home. As I passed by this spectacle I noticed the firemen standing around looking at a person sitting on the bench in the bus stop. A closer look revealed a man propped up against the side of the bus enclosure with that still, stiff look. I realized that this poor man had died sitting at the bus stop.

This made me sad. I reflected at my sense of loss in losing my own father back in 2004, just 7 months after my husband and I agreed to divorce. I considered how lonely it is to die alone at a bus stop. Cars rushing past, people hurrying to whatever destination. Nobody to give a moments thought to the man who would no longer be part of their lives. Oh , I realize that his family would be told and then their mourning would begin, but it was that moment of passing that went by without anyone watching but the angels to take this man home. This was the second time I had seen someone dead in a bus stop. The first time the man was clearly murdered, gruesome details I won’t gore you with, but it also was quick and stayed with me awhile. Again, I was touched that this person died and cars kept going by and people rushing past, trying to gawk at the spectacle.

When my dad died the whole family was around him. I was the last one to touch him before he past. Due to the lateness of the hour and how long it took for his spirit to leave, most the family had fallen asleep, leaving my sister and I to watch over him. At the moment that both my sister and I closed our eyes due to exhaustion and grief, my dad quietly went home… it was only a moment. So quick… I sometimes wonder if dad waited till the family fell asleep at that moment so it wouldn’t be so much of a burden.

I miss my scripture study buddy. I miss that I could take any thought or idea and run it past him to see if it held up logically. I miss watching him love my mom. I miss singing karaoke with him.

I miss my dad.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2007 at 7:28 am and is filed under Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.