July 28-29, 1992…The day’s everything changed! I thought it was like any other typical, boring day. I woke up, ate breakfast, fought with my brother and sister a little bit, you know…same ol’ boring stuff! My Dad had always worked very long shifts, and almost everyday! This particular day he actually came home early to have a talk with my brother who seemed to always be in some kind of trouble! When he was done with the talk, he sat in the living room reading his newspaper (typical) and we had dinner! My chore that day was washing the dishes, which I have always hated! At some point during that evening, I had walked through the living room (trying desperately to avoid my dreaded chore) when my Dad peeked around his paper, and said “Jennifer, aren’t you supposed to be doing the dishes?” Man, BUSTED!!! I managed to come up with some sort of excuse that was good enough for “Daddy” to forget he had even asked! After a while Dad went to bed, and the rest of us continued on with our lives!
Around midnight, my older brother was getting off work and our Dad was usually the one to pick him up so my Mom went in to wake him up, and he asked her to go instead and mentioned that he wasn’t feeling too good. I decided to tag along with my Mom and my sister. On the way home I was told that as soon as we got home I’d better get in the kitchen and get those dishes washed once and for all! When we got home, I went to FINALLY get my job done, and my Mom went into the bedroom to change…that is when everything came crashing down on our household! My Mom came running and screaming out of the bedroom “I think Dad’s dead!!!” over and over again! WHAT???????!!!!!!!! Dad had gotten up to go to the bathroom apparently and had a fatal heart attack. Of course everything was crazy for a while, cops, ambulance (it was far past too late!), all of screaming and crying and not understanding anything that was going on!
After a while things started calming down a bit. My Aunt had come to the house after receiving my Mom’s frantic call for help, and we were all sitting in the living room quietly crying, nobody talking, waiting for the coroner to come and take my Dad out of our home for the last time! Now I gotta tell ya, my Mom always had an odd sort of sense of humor…and I think that a lot of people would take what I am about to say as very disrespectful and insensitive of my Mom to do! I for one am thankful, and happy to say that I believe I actually inherited her sense of humor at least a little bit! In a desperate attempt to break the tension and brain numbing silence in the room, my Mom says to me….”Jennifer, aren’t you supposed to do the dishes?!” Everyone sort of looked at her like she was nuts, and then started laughing! I didn’t find it amusing at the time, but since have found an appreciation for it!
A couple of years ago, I am sad to say that my Mom passed away also! At her funeral, I walked up to her casket to say my final farewell to the MOST important woman in my life! While I was there I quietly asked her…”Mom…weren’t you supposed to do the dishes?”
~Jenn;0)
9 comments:
What a "lovely" story - obviously sad - but the humor is so real.
Thank you! I'm glad you took the time to read it! And it is oh SO true...I am not exagerating this story at all! Me and my sis Lisa had always joked that we were going to have "Ding Dong the Witch is dead" played at our Mom's funeral...Mom even thought is was funny, but when it came down to it, my Aunt who had payed for everything didn't go for it! Damn!
I am happy that our family uses humor to get through difficult times, it really does make a big difference, and makes things a lot easier to deal with! Don't get me wrong I've done my fair share of crying and grieving, but life DOES go on, ya might as well make the best of it!
~Jenn;0)
LoL, wow, girl that totally did not go where I thought it was headed!!! :) But, it is a very touching story!
LMAO at "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead"! When I was little, I wanted to play that at my SISTER'S funeral!!! LoL, the thought of that being played at a funeral has me LMAO here at work. I can picture the people sitting there, looking around in shock at each other!
We did have the song "Spirit in the Sky" played at our Mom's funeral, it was the one thing she herself had requested!!!! Her extended family that we are not real close with did kind of look around at each other like we must all be nuts!!! Why do people think that funerals HAVE to be so sad!? I'm sure it didn't help when us and the Grandkids all went up and attached baloons to a flower stand next to her casket:)!
All of us kids went and watched them lower her into the ground (my parents are buried at a National Cemetary, and they don't do graveside srevices!) and we had filled some baloons with helium and released them there!!! I know it might sound crazy, but if it is possible to have an awesome funeral...that's what my Mom's was!!! I wanted to tell HER so bad about how neat her funeral was LoL! I guess she already knows huh?!
I'm tellin ya what though...I don't care who is paying for mine...I want everyone to have fun! I will request that they have you and Lisa come and do a stand-up act at my funeral! LMAO! How bout it...ya up for it!?;)
~Jenn;0)
Of course I would go do stand up at your funeral - you have to promise to do the same shall I perish first. ;-)
Speaking of funerals... Was your husband weirded out by American funerals?? Jose about freaked when he found out that after my grandma's funeral service we would be gathering at a hall for chicken dinner.
Ah, I suppose I could do that!;) So we got a deal then?!
Yeah, I think he was a little wierded out by it! But he didn't make it obvious at all! I was just thankful he was there, it would have been so much harder without him!
~Jenn;0)
Ahhhh... Jenn that's so sweet. I'm usually the one with the strange sense of humor around here.
Once I got a new shirt and went bike riding ... and I had a bad fall. I had a big egg on the side of my forehead and the friend who was with me freaked out. She paddled her lil heart out to get to my dad.
When dad seen the egg on my head and me crying he does "ooooh does it hurt that bad", I said "dad I ripped my new shirt, look at it, yeah it hurts". Wierd I know.
I had a close relationship with my dad but I envy people who have a close relationship with their mother. It seems that I have mourned the relationship we lack my entire life.
You are truly blessed to have family by your side :)
~Lisa
P.S. I just read about the song "Spirit in the Sky", and let me tell you, my grandmother's burial was a real tear jerker.
My Uncle Bill, he's been a singer for years, played guitar and sang "Go Rest High on That Mountain" with my cousin Pete singing back up.
The lyric (I think) that says "Son your work on earth is done", they switched to "Child your work on earth is done".
At the funeral home for both of my grandparents they played, what is that song? "Last Date" I think? Very sad.
I want Mariah Carey's "Forver" at my funeral for sure but remember my funeral is RSVP ... invitation only, you read that didn't you? LOL
~Lisa
That sounds like my daughter...she could cut off her leg and she would be more worried about her hair being a mess! LoL!
I am happy with the family I got...most of the time! We have our days...but who doesn't?
If you look at my MySpace friends...I think it's the first friend on there is a page my sis Lisa made in memory of our Mom! She has a slideshow on there and you can see the one pic inparticular of all of us standing by her casket...our preacher was the one taking the pic and told us to smile...some of us did...me, Lisa, and our little bro Shaun! Why not smile? She is in the BEST possible place she could be now...we had her for a while...we were blessed that way...now it's God's turn to have some fun with her!
I have no idea what songs will be played at my funeral...I just know I don't want the "typical" sad songs played! That's awesome about your uncle playing...my uncle has a band and plays guitar too...hmmm...maybe he'll play mine, while you and ESA do stand-up;)
~Jenn;0)
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