On August 30th, 2025 my Father, 58, suffered what we believe was a brain aneurysm. He had a fall and subsequent brain bleeds. I was with him.
One moment we were having a perfect evening, the next I hear a loud noise and look up to see my Father no longer standing in front of me. I performed CPR and bought enough time for my Mother to make it on a plane ride to come see him in the hospital to say goodbye.
The loss of my Father has absolutely wrecked me. The Man that my Father was was steadfast, kind and true. He believed in doing the right thing always. The Valor instilled in my Father from his 21 years of service in the United States Army will forever be engrained in the way that he raised me.
I know I'm not present here. I know many times over the last two years I've said I want to come back and I haven't. I spent more time and effort on my marriage, Motherhood and my career. But there are many of you here who have followed me for a long time and in my grief I find that sharing it is healing.
My Father had a 21 gun salute at his Funeral. For the first time in a long time, I felt God surrounding me while we sat in the 100 year old civil war church that raised me. Bathed in sunlight and surrounded by family and friends, my Mother and I had to say goodbye to our truest of Loves.
I am only 33 years old. I will probably spend more time on this earth without my Father than with.
Time is precious. Treat the people in your lives as such.
My last words to my Father were "Tonight has been the perfect night Daddy, this is exactly how I wanted the evening to be....oh my husband is calling me." I stepped away a few feet to answer the phone and now I struggle with that decision. I know logically this was an uncontrollable event, I know these things happen. But it fucking hurts.