Saying goodbye

Wed Oct 5th my dad went to my uncle's about 5pm to stay with him while my aunt ran errands and to help. Things were ok until the pain got to be too difficult for them to manage so they decided to take him to Madelia hospital. My aunt went home to sleep while my dad stayed there and my cousin, Deb came down to be with him overnight. It was nice for my aunt to get sleep and have a break. My dad went home in the morning and then stayed most of Thursday. Brad, the girls and I went down Thursday evening. He had lots of visitors throughout the day. He was pretty medicated and was sleeping a lot. I went in the room, tapped on his arm and said, "Hi Uncle Lee it's Ariane". He looked up and squeezed my hand and squeezed and squeezed. I couldn't believe it as he lay there weak that he still had such a good grip. I continued to admire his toughness but whispered to him that it was ok to let go and just rest. That was the last time we communicated.

On Friday October 7th, my dad stayed with my uncle, aunt and cousins at the hospital. I was at work and since it was quiet was getting a lot done however I kept having the feeling that I needed to be with Lee and my family. Thankfully I have awesome bosses and co-workers who understood my wish to leave and I took off at about 1pm. My aunt, cousins and dad were chit chatting in the hospital room and my uncle was resting pain free which was nice to see. I touched his arm and said hi, no response and knew it wouldn't be long. He passed away peacefully at 3:15pm. One of the strongest figures in my life was no longer suffering so we were thankful yet sad because he brought a lot of fun and joy to people. Tough day but I was glad to be there to support my family.