Life Memories

*The following is what I wrote and shared at my Daddy's funeral.

Charles Russell Barnett was born on May 28, 1939 in Kinston, North Carolina. He was the first of four children born to Raymond and Rosella Barnett. His Dad, Raymond, was nicknamed ‘Frog’ so it only made sense that Daddy was nicknamed ‘Tadpole.’ As a child he was a mischievous one. His sister Carolyn Jean tells about how he liked to box and used to walk up to her and say, “Put up your dukes Jean.” When he was at school one day, he thought it would be a good idea to loosen the caps on the salt shakers, so that unsuspecting users would end up with a plate full of salt. Years later he told this story to his children at the dinner table one night, and his son Eric was so impressed by it, that he decided to try it out himself the next day at school. But even though he was mischievous, he had a good heart as well. A story was told to me last night about how my Daddy got to go to a church activity during a time when his dad was busy trying to get the crops in. My Granddaddy’s friend asked him why he let Daddy go to this activity when he really needed him at home to help get the work done. Granddaddy told him about how every morning he would see Daddy kneeling in prayer, and how he always did what he was asked to do, and that he never talked back to him or gave him any trouble. So if he wanted to go, he was going to let him go.

He was a very good student and always made good grades in school. After high school, he attended Brigham Young University for one and a half years. He was then drafted into the Army, where he was stationed in Colorado Springs, and fell in love with the Colorado mountains. While he was in Colorado, he was the scout master at church, and had planned a week long camping trip. When he asked his sergeant if he could go, he told him no. It just so happened that the commanding officer was a member of the church, and found out that this sergeant had told Daddy that he couldn't go on the camp out. The sergeant later called Daddy in and told Daddy that he must know somebody high up because he was told to let him go. Serving in the Army instilled in him a great love for his country which continued to grow throughout his life, and he shared that love with his family. Just before he got out of the Army, he was named 'Soldier of the Month'. After he came home from the Army, he got a degree in Electronic Engineering at Wayne Community College. He then started dating a beautiful young lady who he had been out with twice before he went into the Army. He asked her to marry him six months later while they were at church one night. She didn’t give him an answer right away, but told him she needed to go home to pray about it. Later that night, she said yes, and on February 6, 1968, they traveled to the closest temple at that time, which was the Salt Lake Temple, and were married for time and all eternity. Over the next few years they had seven children—Dale, Eric, Lynetta, Neal, Cory, Melissa, and Kristie. In 1972, he was called to be bishop of the Albertson Ward. When he was set apart by Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, he was told that he would be able to look out into the congregation and know who needed his help. Mom said she could always tell when something was on his mind, and when it had left him, and that he never broke any confidences. As Bishop, he loved the youth of the ward, and made sure he was at as many of their activities as he could be. He went on camp outs, traveled for basketball games, and went to many dances and youth conferences. At one point while he was bishop, he helped twelve young men prepare and go out to serve missions all at the same time. When he was released, several of the youth talked about how he was always at their activities and how much they loved him. Last night, several adults who were youth during his time as Bishop talked about how much they loved him and how he will always be their bishop.

After working for Xerox for 20 years, he decided it was time for a change. He then worked at Guilford East for 14 years, and retired from there in 2002. After retiring he and mom served a Temple Mission in the Raleigh Temple for a year and a half. Although they enjoyed working there, they had to end their service there due to his health problems. During his later years, Daddy had the privilege of seeing five of his children serve missions, all seven of his children sealed in the temple, and the birth of 19 grand kids, who he loved, and who all loved him dearly. He enjoyed playing with them, gardening, working in the yard, and fishing. And that mischievous streak that he had as a child never left him. He loved to poke, tickle, or stick his tongue out at whoever was closest to him at the moment. He loved hot sauce, and wanted others to understand his love for hot sauce. So if you happened to be close enough to him when he was spicing up his food, he would spice up yours too if you weren’t paying attention. Melissa was his favorite unsuspecting victim. He also loved to tell jokes and make you laugh.If you haven’t heard his favorite joke yet, find one of us afterwards and we’ll share it with you. Daddy was a one hundred percent, true blue, through and through Carolina Tarheel fan, and he made sure that his children were taught to believe in the true doctrine of the Carolina Tarheels as well.

As Daddy got older, his driving skills left a lot to be desired. Uncle Woodrow tells a story about how he was riding with Mama and Daddy one night. They were coming home from Raleigh and were driving through Mount Olive. He was driving along and ran up into a church yard and almost hit a dumpster. After he slammed on the brakes, he then asked, “Where’d the road go?” Uncle Woodrow said, “It turned off back there.” He would often run off of the road, and liked to blame it on mom. He would say to her, “Joan, keep your side on the road.”

But just as his mischievous streak never left, neither did his good heart. He has always been a great example to his children of the power of prayer. Each of us have forever engrained in our memories, Daddy kneeling beside his bed praying morning and night. He could also often be found reading and pondering the scriptures. He also loved and understood the importance of home teaching. It really bothered him when he got to the point where he wasn’t physically able to do it anymore.

On November 22, 2009, Daddy quietly passed from this life and into the next life, where we know that he is fulfilling a new calling. While we will miss him terribly, we are so grateful for the time that he was here with us, and for all that he has taught us through his tremendous example of loving and living the gospel of Jesus Christ. We could not have asked for a better son, brother, husband, father, granddaddy, or friend. May each of us now strive each day of our lives to carry on this legacy of service to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

It's Turkey Time!

Not that kind of turkey, Oreo turkeys! I have seen these on a couple of different blogs I read and thought they were so cute.



So I made some for the girls to take to their classes at school to share. I think are are so adorable--and tasty!



However, it did take a while to make 44 of them. So while I probably will not make them for school again, I will make them in smaller quantities. Happy Turkey Day!

No More Goopy Eye

A few days after we brought John David home from the hospital, his right eye starting getting green goop in it. So at his two week check up, I asked the doctor about it and he said it was a clogged tear duct. He said to try doing warm compresses and massaging it to try to get the duct to open up. So I did that for a while and it just didn't seem to make a difference. A couple of times he was put on drops for it, which would clear it up for a few weeks, but it would just come back. My doctor told me to just keep trying the massages and warm compresses because there was nothing that could be done until he was a year old. When John David was about six months old, I took him in to have his ears checked and we didn't see his regular doctor. This doctor told me that he needed to see an eye doctor because it should have cleared up by now and that there was something that they could do. So when we went to see the eye doctor, he put John David on some eye drops too. It cleared up and we thought we finally were done with the goopy eye. But it came back again a few weeks later. So they gave us a different drop to try, and it was more of the same. We were finally referred to the pediatric eye doctor, who we saw last week, and he scheduled John David for surgery today. We had to be at Memorial this morning at 5:30am. We got checked in and then they took us to a room, where we waited for them to prep him. This surgery was a little more involved, so he had to have an IV and a breathing tube (which made me a little more nervous too). At about 7:30am they came to get him, and before eight o'clock the doctor was telling us that it all went well. He did a probe and irrigation to clean out the duct, and then put in a stint, which is supposed to stay in for six weeks. Since we were at the hospital, we didn't get to see John David until after recovery, which was pretty hard. I really didn't like the thought of my baby being upset and not being able to be with me, or at least someone that he knows. He was finally back with us by about 8:30am, and he was a little fussy, but not as bad as he was after he had his tubes put in. After about an hour in the room with us, they let us leave, and we were home by 10am. He slept all morning, only getting up to eat once, and then went right back to sleep. He woke up again around 2:30 and Aaron gave him a bath while I went to pick up the girls from school. When we got home, he was playing on the floor. I could tell he wasn't quite back to normal, but it was good to see him down playing. He has done so well, and it is such a relief to have it all over, and hopefully to finally be forever rid of the goopy eye.

Snake Charmer

It's book fair week at Maplewood, and it's Sarah's first ever book fair. So when she came home with the paper with some of the books that they would have there, we sat down together to figure out which one she wanted to get. There were all kinds of fun books--Junie B. Jones, cute kitty books, Barbie, Fancy Nancy, just to name a few. But she didn't want any of those books. She found this snake book and her mind was made up. She bought it today when her class finally got to go to the book fair, and she absolutely loves it! It is chock full of disgusting snake pictures and facts and she has looked through it at least nine hundred, ninety-nine and a half times this afternoon. I'm trying to be excited with her, but it really is pretty disgusting! I just can't figure out why my little girly girl love snakes so much.

A Wedding Story

About six weeks ago Aaron got a phone call from a man who wanted to know if he could perform a ring ceremony after his upcoming wedding. When Aaron found out that the event would take place in Iota, he told him he needed to call the Branch President in Jennings, since that is his area. The man called back later and said that President Caple was going to be out of town that day and again asked if Aaron could perform the ring ceremony. So Aaron said he would be glad to. As we driving out there today, I was thinking about what kind of experience this was going to be. As much as I love weddings, I felt out of place before we had even arrived, since we didn't know the bride, the groom, or any of the other guests. I have to confess that I thought it was going to be pretty boring. But it turned out to be an interesting day, and we met several pretty interesting people. Here are just a few.

1. Crazy Lady who used to live in Lake Charles--When we dropped off the kids at Kent and Johnice's house, Kent was telling us that this couple who used to live in Lake Charles years ago had called them and they were on their way to the same wedding. He asked Aaron if he remembered them, and Aaron didn't. As soon as this couple arrived, they quickly found Aaron, and talked to him for a few minutes. Then the wife came and found me and said, "Are you Lynetta?" When I told her yes, she grabbed my hand and said, "I don't know if you remember me or not, but I am _______ and we used to live in Lake Charles." She didn't give me a chance to say that I wasn't from there, but told me all about things that happened when they were in the ward and all about other people that I didn't know. She seemed really nice, but she was just a "little different". She would come up to us while we were talking with other people and start talking about the most random stuff. One time we were sitting down talking to the mother of the groom and she came up behind Aaron and said, "You should not make your kids go to BYU!" And then she proceeded to give a short dissertation on that subject, all the while playing with Aaron's food. It was so weird, but I can't help but laugh about it.

2. Funny Old Man--Aaron met this older man who was the groom's hunting buddy. So he and Aaron talked a while about guns and duck hunting. They became fast friends, and were laughing and making fun of each other the rest of the time we were there.

3. Mother of the Groom--We somehow ended up sitting at the same table as the mother of the groom, who was probably in her 80s, at least. She told us that the groom was the eighth of her nine children, and that she really liked her new daughter-in-law. She told us about how her husband was a telephone repair man, and how he loved gardening, and that she thought that he had married her way back when because she owned two acres of land. She was so cute, but by the third time of asking where we were from and telling us all about her husband again, we realized that she must have a touch of Alzheimer's. We really enjoyed visiting with her though, again, and again, and again. Such a sweet lady.

4. First Cousin Once Removed--While I was talking to #1, I noticed a tall, slim man with grey hair and glasses. His smile and his eyes looked familiar to me, and after watching him for a few minutes I realized that he had to be one of my Uncle Melvin's sons. Uncle Melvin was my Grandma Barnett's (my Dad's mom) oldest brother. He died about 25 or so years ago, but I still remember him and what a wonderful man he was. I asked #1 if she knew who the tall man was, but she didn't. And a few minutes later when we had finally gotten away from #1 and were talking to another group of people, we asked what the man's name was, and sure enough, it was Reed Potter. So I went over and talked to him and his wife and we had the best time visiting with each other. He is a great man too, and reminded me a lot of his dad. It was just so funny that I thought we wouldn't know anyone there, and I ended up seeing a cousin in the middle of nowhere, Louisiana. Such a small world.

The ring ceremony and reception were held at a place called The Springs Ballroom in Iota, Louisiana. It was seriously in the middle of nowhere, but it was the nicest little place. They had a great set up for and an inside or outside event. Anyway, the bride and groom's first dance was to Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am". It is a great song, but I wasn't really familiar with it. When we got home Aaron pulled it up on the internet and we listened to the words. In the song, she sings about the things that she would do for her man, including buying him Rogaine when he loses all his hair! We had a pretty good laugh over that! Apparently I don't love my man the way she loves her man, since it has never occurred to me that I should buy him Rogaine to show my love for him. Thank goodness Aaron doesn't measure my love by me buying him Rogaine!

Sweet 16

Tonight we went to Vidor to our niece Jessica's birthday party.



She had about one hundred of her closest friends over to help her celebrate, by dancing in the street. Even the Maw Maws got in on the dancing fun.



And of course her favorite Aunt and Uncle were there too! :) She asked Uncle Aaron to be her first slow dance. How sweet!



There were some really cute boys there!



And what's a Sweet 16 celebration without your own cotton candy machine?!



My girls thought it was the coolest thing ever! And Aaron and I did too, actually!



And even though they are already too sweet for words, they chowed down like there was no tomorrow.



We love you Jessica, and think you are a pretty awesome girl! Happy Sweet 16!

Halloween

This year for Halloween, I had a cute family theme planned. I have always wanted to do a family dress up theme, and I thought this was going to be the year. I bought a Dalmatian puppy dog costume last year after Halloween for John David for just $3, and that's when I came up with the idea. I wanted Aaron to dress up like a fireman, John David was going to be his fire dog, and the girls and I were going to wear our pajamas and have curlers in our hair and black make up smudges on our faces. I told Aaron about the idea a couple of months ago, and he liked it, and so did the girls when I told them about it. But after they all went to the circus the beginning of October, they started changing their minds. The girls wanted to be trapeze artists, and Aaron wanted to be a clown. I thought I might still be able to talk them into it, but then I ended up leaving for North Carolina the Wednesday before Halloween. So the girls ended up being zombie trapeze artists (not sure where the zombie part came from), and Aaron dressed as a doctor. They carved pumpkins Saturday morning, and then went to the ward trunk-or-treat, where they had a grand time, and apparently collected enough candy to feed a third world country for a year. Two weeks later, we still have half a ton left, even after a week of me being gone and Daddy letting them "eat all of the candy they want".

One of My Favorite Fall Treats

When I was a little girl, I remember tasting this delicious dessert that my Aunt Linda had made for our Thanksgiving feast one year. I was immediately in love with it. But I don't remember ever having it after that. I don't know if the adults hid it, or if that happened to be the only year that she made it. Anyway, I thought about a few years ago and called my mom to see if she knew Aunt Linda's recipe. Lucky for me, she said it was in the Albertson Ward Cookbook, which I just happened to have a copy of. So I decided to give it a try, and it turned out just as delicious as I had remembered it all those years ago. It has become one of my favorite fall treats. The only thing is that I can't make it unless I have somewhere to take it, since no one in my family will eat it. So I made two pumpkin rolls for Enrichment tonight, and as usual, it did not disappoint. It was divine! I think it gets better every year. Oh pumpkin roll, oh pumpkin roll! Oh how I love thee!

Christmas in November

I know it's still weeks away, but I feel like it's Christmas already! My Mom called this afternoon with some great news. She told me that the doctor told them today that Daddy should be able to leave the VA hospital in a few days, but from there they wanted him to go to a rehabilitation hospital that will help him get his strength back. So my Mom asked if he would still need Hospice when he returned home, and they said no. I am so grateful for all of the prayers that have been offered in his behalf by family and friends, near and far. I know that these prayers have been heard and answered by our loving Heavenly Father. I now that He lives, and loves us all, and will grant our righteous desires, if it is His will. I don't know how much longer my Dad will be here on this earth, but I am grateful for each day that he is still with us!

My Funny Nieces

Since I stayed with my sister Melissa most of the time while I was in NC, I was able to spend a lot of time with her two sweet little girls, Kyleigh and Marleigh. Don't let those sweet, innocent faces fool you--THEY ARE A MESS! Marleigh was trying to make some money off of me while I was there by trying to sell me her brother Ethan's cool piano toy that John David loved playing with. She told me I could buy it for $5, but then she tried to sell it out from under me to my sister Kristie for her little boy, Charlie. Little sneak! And who do you think Marleigh learned from--none other than the Big sneak, Kyleigh. Kyleigh came up to me one night and was hugging on me and I was just thinking about what a sweet girl she was and enjoying those sweet hugs. And then I realized that she was patting my back an awful lot, and I asked her, "Are you putting something on my back?" She just started laughing, so I reached around and pulled a sign off of my back that said, "I am very very very very very very lazy." I would have been offended if I hadn't been laughing so hard. Then later on I was telling Melissa what Kyleigh had done and before she even realized what had happened, she found a sign on her back that said, "Help! I'm poor!" We all just died laughing, and then she struck again. This time she got my Mom. The sign on her back said, "Save me from these wild animals!" Those girls just crack me up! I'm so glad I got to spend some time with these sweet, crazy girls! I love you KJ and MJ!

A Sweet Little Note

As I was unpacking tonight, I found this sweet note from my sweet little niece Marleigh. It says:

dear Lnetta,
thack you so much for comeing all the way from looeseeana to Grandma's house. I epreesheeat that so much.
Love,
Marleigh

And she drew a cute picture of me and her holding hands. And she drew me skinny, which I really "epreesheeat." I love you sweet Marleigh!

Nine Months

At nine months, our sweet little "big boy" weighs 22 pounds, and is 29 1/2 inches long. It has been another month of firsts for him.



First nap with Daddy...........well, first nap for this particular day. :)



First time in a playpen, a "redneck" playpen, that is. How else am I going to get anything done? :)



First time clapping. So cute!



First time calling China.



First time playing "dress up" with his sisters, although I'm sure it won't be the last.



First time climbing on something.



First time on an airplane, and his first trip to North Carolina. He is a great little traveler, even though he looks a little scared in this picture. It was also his first time meeting most of his NC aunts, uncles, and cousins.



First time breaking rules (although I'm sure much more of this is in his future too) so he could go visit Granddaddy.



First time admiring himself in the mirror. Well he is so good looking!



First piano concert. He absolutely loved this toy at Aunt Melissa's house.



First Halloween. He was a Dalmatian puppy dog. And pretty much the cutest one I've ever seen! Although he didn't wear it for long. After we went to a Halloween party at Uncle Cory and Aunt Kristen's house, we went with Kristie, Charlie, and Mama to the hospital to visit Granddaddy. He got to see the cute "puppy dog" and "pumpkin" just a few minutes before they both started yelling to get them out of the costumes. It was a fun night.



And his first step, which was taken while we were still in North Carolina. So far, the most he's taken at one time is three.

We love you so much handsome little man!

Back to LA

John David and I flew back to Louisiana today. Leaving North Carolina was bittersweet. It was so hard to leave knowing that it could be the last time I see my Dad in this life, but I have missed my girls and my sweet husband like crazy. It was a comfort that Daddy is feeling and looking better now that he was when I first arrived in North Carolina. I am so glad I was able to go and spend some time with my Dad and Mom and brothers and sisters. It has been a really special time and we have made some really special memories. Here are a few pictures that we took with Dad before we left.





It was so great to see my sweet little family waiting for us as we came through the security gates. They were all dressed up since they came straight from church to pick us up and looked so nice. Oh how I have missed their hugs and kisses! I am so grateful for the things that I have experienced over these last few weeks because I feel like it has made me stronger, and appreciate all that I have even more. I am so grateful for each moment with my loved ones and feel so blessed to have them in my life.

Katie's Field Trip

Katie's class went on a field trip to Grant's Tree Farm. Aaron went with her since I was in North Carolina. They had a great time learning about sugar cane, going on a hayride, seeing all of their trees (including the tallest one on the farm), and picking out pumpkins.

Not The News We Had Hoped For

All of my siblings, my Mom, and I gathered at the hospital this morning to see Daddy before he went in for the catherizaton. Daddy asked his nurse for special permission to bring all of us in at one time, including the kids who were there, for a family prayer. She said it would be okay, and we were so grateful for her allowing us this special privilege to be together for a few short minutes to pray together as a family. Daddy started off by asking us what the church meant to us. My brother Cory said, "Everything." My sister-in-law Sherry said, "Happiness." He then asked me what it meant to me and I said, "Cory stole my answer. It means everything to me too. It's how I live my life, and it's peace and happiness." He told us that he hoped that the church would always mean as much to us as it has meant to him throughout his life. Cory assured him that it would because of his great example to us. My Daddy then bore his testimony about the truthfulness of the church, the importance of missionary work, and the importance of prayer and scripture study in our daily lives. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful father who has taught me the gospel by example throughout my life.

It was about 3:00 when they finally came to get him. An hour and a half later, we saw them bringing him back to the CCU. The nurses stopped for a moment to let us talk to him, and they told us that he did great during the procedure and that the doctor would be out in a few minutes to tell us how it went. The doctor came a few minutes later and told us that the artery that they thought was clogged and had hoped to be able to open up was not clogged at all, which meant that there was nothing else for them to do. He said that the only thing left to do was to tweak his medications, which would hopefully get him to feeling a little better. Although it was not the news that we had hoped for, we are grateful that Daddy is feeling and looking lots better than he was when I got here a week ago. They are working on his meds and say that he may be able to go home in four to five days.

A Few Things I Want To Remember

1.Dad has apparently made an impression on his doctor from the 7th floor. The doctor told him that he thought about him while he was at the hospital, and when he went home at night. He also told him that there was something different about him. The Chaplin also made the same comment to him. And the nurse in the CCU told us how sweet he is. She has been taking care of him the last couple of days and told us that she wouldn't be back until Monday. Then she said, "I hope I don't see you when I come back. I hope you are better and get to go home soon. Then she told me and my mom to "take care of this good man." We assured her that we would.

2.My Grandma Barnett came up to visit my Dad for the first time since he's been in the hospital this time on Friday night. She is almost ninety years old. I had just left Dad's room to go take John David on a walk, so I didn't get to see this sweet little reunion, but my sister described to me how cute it was. She said Grandma couldn't get her hands on him fast enough, and pushed a chair and table out of the way to get to him. When she got to him, she put her hands on his cheeks and patted them, and then gave him a kiss on the forehead. She then said, "You weren't expecting to see me were you?" I really wish I had been there to see it for myself.

3. Tonight I was in room with Dad by myself. Mom and I were the only ones at the hospital, and since children aren't allowed in CCU rooms, we were taking turns watching John David and visiting Daddy. On one of my turns with Daddy, I walked into the room and his eyes were closed. I didn't want to disturb him, so I just watched him sleep for a few minutes. When he opened his eyes, he looked around and then saw me. He said, "Honey, you should tell me when you're here." He then grabbed my hand and said, "I hope you know how proud I am of you and your little family and all that you have accomplished." This of course brought tears to my eyes immediately. But through the tears, I told him, "I hope you know how proud I am of you and how much I admire you." And then we sat together and cried for a few minutes.



4.My parents haven't always been the lovey dovey type. So seeing them together in the hospital this last week has been really neat to watch. One day soon after we had arrived, Dad said to Mom, "You get prettier everyday." It was so sweet. And after we had been there a while, he said, "Did you give me a kiss yet?" My mom said, "Yes, I did." To which my Dad replied, "Oh. Well, any chance I could get another one?" So she gave him another one. So sweet.

A Change of Tide

Last night Daddy was moved from a regular room on the seventh floor to the critical care unit. They are concerned that he is gaining weight from the fluid instead of losing it, so they moved him to CCU so they can continually give him Lasix to try to get the fluid out. It sounded like bad news to us initially, but he is getting much better care there than he was before. Sometimes he would have to wait up to an hour after he called a nurse for help on the seventh floor. And we also found out that his doctors weren't even cardiologists, which was completely mind boggling to us as to why he wasn't under the care of a heart doctor. (That's the government for you. He is at the VA hospital in Durham. And they say that this is the kind of care we could expect if the government passes this healthcare reform. If this doesn't scare you, then I don't know what will, but that's a whole other story.) So now he is under the care of the heart doctors and he has nurses who respond immediately when he calls for them. And the best news is that the doctors are saying that they may be able to do a cardiac catherization, which if successful, could open up one of his arteries, which would hopefully improve his heart function. He has had this procedure done several times before, but I am very concerned about whether or not he is strong enough for it this time. But they are the experts, so I am putting my faith in them and in my Heavenly Father. We should know in a few days what they have decided, so in the meantime, we are hoping and praying for the best.

What do these things have in common?

A piece of styrofoam, a barrette, a nylon tie, and a piece of a pinecone.

Anyone????

Okay, you'll never guess.

They are just a few of the many things I pulled out of John David's mouth while we have been visiting my family in North Carolina. That kid will put anything, and I mean ANYTHING in his mouth. And then scream like I'm killing him when I try to get it out. I hope this phase is over soon!

The Phone Call

I got a phone call last Tuesday that I have been expecting, and dreading for a while now. My Mom had taken my Dad to the hospital the Friday before, and they said he had fluid on his lungs, which we figured since he has congestive heart failure. They said it should take a few days to get the fluid off, and then he could go home. But when the doctors "called in the family" on Tuesday, we knew it was more serious. They said that he is in stage four of congestive heart failure, which is as bad as it gets. They also said that there isn't much more for them to do, except for maybe tweaking his medications, make sure he is comfortable, and then send him home for Hospice to take over. And they wanted to know what his final wishes were since his heart was so weak and could stop at any time. This news hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought I was prepared for this news, but I guess I was only fooling myself. After all, how can you prepare for losing a loved one, especially a parent? We have been planning to go to North Carolina for Christmas, but with this news we weren't sure if he'd be there at Christmas. So the next morning John David and I took a flight to NC. My Mom and sister picked me up and we went straight to the hospital. The look on my Dad's face was priceless, since they hadn't told him I was coming. He told me that he was afraid that he would never see me again. Needless to say, it has been a very hard and emotional time, but it has been great to be here with my family. We know that we have been blessed to have him here with us as long as we have, since some people don't make it past their first heart attack. Dad had his first one over 20 years ago, so we consider ourselves to have been blessed beyond measure. My Dad was talking the other day about what a slothful servant he thinks he has been, and I told him that we all feel that way. My brother told him that if he didn't make it then there was no hope for any of us. He does however, have a two things that he wants to do before he goes. He said that he would like to write his testimony in several copies of the Book of Mormon and give them to some of his extended family that aren't members of the church. He also wants to write his life history. I came here in hopes of helping him accomplish, or at least work on those goals, but I was thinking he would be home by today and he is not. So my prayer is that he will at least be able to be here long enough that we can help him accomplish these goals. I am so grateful for my knowledge and testimony of the wonderful plan of salvation that has been laid out for us by our loving Heavenly Father. I know that He lives, and loves us more than we can comprehend. I also know that He blesses us with and increase of love, understanding and peace during times like this. And I am so grateful for that!