Saturday, June 15, 2013

Honoring Captain Kidd and Celebrating Memories



As I stated on my Face Book page......I'm having sweet thoughts of my mom today.  She was born on June 15, 1933.....and today would have been her 80th Birthday.  I'll be celebrating cherished memories of this precious lady today!!!    Love You Forever Mom!



Roses for you Mom!



Tomorrow is Father's day and I want to Honor my dad for being the wonderful, kind, loving father that he is.  His life has not been the easiest.....but, through everything.....he has kept his strength and pressed on!

He was born as the youngest of 15 children!   My Goodness....15 kids?!?!?   He labored hard as a young boy in order to help his dad with the family farming.  His dad had crippling rheumatoid arthritis.

After he and my mom were married....my dad worked hard to provide for his family and he made many sacrifices in order for us to have the things that we needed.  (Not wanted, but NEEDED)

Later in life, my older sister and her husband were killed in a car wreck.  My mom and dad had the responsibility of raising my sister's three children.  Each of these kids were severely injured in the car wreck and it took, round the clock nursing care in order for these kids to survive.  My dad worked extra hard to see that everyone was taken care of.  Dad was extremely close to my sister and losing her was very difficult for him.  Being so overwhelmed with the needs of the three children, my dad tried keeping his grief bottled up inside.   This is not a good thing to do, and sometimes it can get the best of us.

My dad had his first Open Heart Surgery, which included 4 bypasses, a few years after my sister's death.  He has since, had 4  completely different open heart surgeries which has left him with much on-going pain from his chest being opened so many times.

My nephew (the grandson that he and my mom raised) died at the age of 28 from a massive heart attack.  This was another huge heartache for my parents.  

With my mom's passing, seven years ago......my dad has grieved tremendously.  I'm not sure I have ever seen a man who has loved his wife the way my dad loved my mom.   I really felt that my dad would die of a broken heart.....literally   Not from a diseased heart, but from a broken heart.   The picture in my header was taken the year after my mom passed away.   Trista and I had convinced him to let us take him on a small trip to Branson.   He was kind enough to go....but since this was an area where he and mom traveled to....  a whole lot, I could since his grief of her not being there with us.

My maiden name was Kidd, so when we saw the Captain Kidd sign, we had to grab a picture of my dad in front of it.

He is the only one of his 15 siblings that is still living....    I can almost feel his loneliness at times.  It's kinda sad to me.

Two years ago my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and he has gone down hill quite a bit since then.   I am extremely grateful for his loving attitude that has always remained the same.  He has a hard time understanding and he NO longer knows some of the grandkids, as well as other people that he has known for years......but, he is so sweet in the fact that he doesn't want to hurt any one's feelings by having them think that he doesn't know them.   He tries to pretend that he does...

I sure love this man.....my dad......Captain Kidd!  I Wish him a super Happy Father's Day!

(I'm posting this today....because I want to honor my husband tomorrow.....Sam and I will be celebrating our 41 year anniversary tomorrow)

Shug.....

2 comments:

  1. What a story! I had known bits and pieces of it from following you over the years, but not the whole story. Your mom is so beautiful, and he looks so handsome, but what a very sad life.Recent medical findings have shown that people can actually die of grief, bet he has YOU, and with you around, I think no one can be sad for long! I bet you are a whirlwind who just makes people feel good!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very Sweet post!

    Honoring our parents is one of
    THE best things we can do for our parents!

    Happy Anniversary to You and Sam!!

    :)

    ReplyDelete

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