5 years ago, today, my dad passed away from a brain aneurysm. It was the toughest thing I have ever experienced, and the loss of this amazing man in my life I feel every single day.
June 1, 2007 started as normal as any day in springtime in Colorado. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and it was an all around beautiful day. I spent the day running pony training at The City Farm, and took the new staff on a trail ride. While on that trail ride I had a horse jump over a stream and land in my lap (uninjured - thank goodness), and I remember laughing and thinking that I needed to call and tell my dad - he would find it funny.
We got back to the corral, and I was unsaddling, when my friend, Bridget, came running down the hill, crying, saying that my dad had collapsed and was on his way to the hospital. We hopped in her car, and we drove to the hospital. The most horrible feeling I have ever had was being passed by his ambulance.
We arrived at the hospital shortly after he did, and the doctors didn't know what had happened. You couldn't find a healthier person - Dad was active, always stayed a healthy weight, and was in the prime of his life. It turned out to be a brain aneurysm, and he was flight for life'd to Swedish Medical in Denver.
During the night, my dad suffered a heart attack and the oxygen to his brain was cut even more. The next morning he was pronounced brain dead.
This was completely unexpected, and it rocked our family to the core. The next few weeks were spent in a daze, and unfortunately, we were continually reminded of our loss with Father's Day in the next two weeks. It was a tough time, and I will be forever grateful to the wonderful family and friends who reached out to us during that time.
The loss of this great man was such a huge event in my life - I remember feeling mad at the world that it didn't stop turning, for even a second, to recognize the loss. Grief is a tough thing, and it's something we all deal with differently. This blog has been really helpful for me, especially on tough days like this.
Learn from our loss - go hug your parents, children, friends and other loved ones because you never know when they could be gone forever.
