The Last Day......

Most of you have heard or read about this over the last few years or even from posts I have done on here.....buuuuut TODAY is "The Last Day"...... Let me take you back to June 7, 2020. It was a Sunday. My dad was suffering from a broken back and some nerve damage. It was during the "pandemic" so he was getting seen by doctors to help alleviate the pain. He was given some pain meds to help. However, my dad being a 78 year old stubborn man did not want to take the pain meds and said he could work through it. Ok fair enough. I came up to his house here in Cape Coral, FL around 1 PM on Sunday 6/7/2020. Originally I was going to bring my dog, Raider, to visit "Pop Pop", but I thought with his back being injured it wasn't a good idea.... So I go up to visit without her. As soon as I get out of the car my dad asks, "Where's Raider at?" I told him why I didn't bring her and he said, "I was hoping to see her." My dad and I sat in his garage for a bit and I got up to grab a beer from his "Beer Fridge" in the garage. Now this beer fridge was the beer fridge for the neighborhood. He had every beer he could have for all of his neighbors. They would come by to visit, walk their dogs, and just to talk to my dad. He also kept my beer in there. And he kept his favorite, Coors Light, aka PISS WATER. As I said I got up to grab a beer and my dad said, "Hey grab me one I haven't had one in about a month!" Ok dad ... So I grabbed him a Coors Light. We drank our beers and just talked. I asked him questions about his time in Vietnam and the FBI. He told me stories I have never heard before. It was like a gateway to what my dad's life was before me. He asked me questions about my job at Seed To Table and how everything was going. At some point I got up to grab another beer for myself and my dad said, "Hey grab me one more beer!" So I did without question. We continued talking for another hour or so and my dad was getting tired and his back pain was hitting him. So I got up and gave him a handshake and a hug. He told me he loved me and I told him I loved him. To this day I remember sitting in my car and backing out of his drive way..... My dad stood there, stoic, his left hand on the back of his 2019 Bullit Mustang (His pride and joy), I called my sister and told her something to this effect, "I don't know why but it is kind of sad backing out of his drive way right now....he looks like he is in pain." Fast forward to Wednesday June 10, 2020...... I am sitting in our weekly managers meeting at Seed To Table. My phone is blowing up from my dad's girlfriend. I keep denying the call. Finally as the meeting is done I answer and tell her I will call her back in a few... She says, "No you need to take this call..." I step out into the stair well of our office and she tells me, "Your dad is gone!" I throw open the door to the conference room where every department manager, HR manager, my boss, EVERYONE standing there and say, "I gotta go my dad is dead!" It is a day I will never forget...... I run down there stairs to my car. I tell my assistant, "I gotta go" ... I get in my car not knowing what to do except start calling people.... My boss stops me in the parking lot and says, "What ever you need from us Chad. We love you!" A dear friend of mine, Natalie Perkins, sent me a song after I made the announcement on Facebook. This song has stood with me and comforted me more times than any other song has ever comforted me. My only ask for all of you is this..... Hold your loved ones a little tighter! Call your parents a little more! Visit them a little more if possible. I would give the world to have my dad back here just to talk with him. I'd give the world back just for him to give me shit for some dumb ass decision I made. At the end of the day.... Whomever it is... Just make sure that you #DrinkABeer with them! Until Next Time, Spiral Out