Daddy Jack

The past week of our lives have been a blur. Life was going along at a great pace, we were living and loving life and it seemed as if all was right with the world. Last Wednesday morning, life as we knew it, turned upside down in a matter of minutes.

Steve and I were both at work. I had just finished up a meeting with my boss and co-workers. I unlocked my computer and refreshed my CAD (dispatch) screen. There on the screen was an unattended death call at Steve's Dad's apartment. When I first saw it, I thought that was Daddy Jack's place, but wasn't 100% sure. After confirming that it was Daddy Jack's apartment, I had to make the hardest phone call I've ever had to make.

I had to call Steve and tell him about his Daddy. Just thinking about it still makes me sick.

One of our guys drove me to the scene while Steve drove up from his office in Fayetteville. The next few hours are a total blur. There was so much going on and so many things happening at once, plus I think we were just in shock. Because of the time frame and the way it happened, our Criminal Investigation Division had to come in and do an investigation and make sure everything happened naturally. I was so impressed with the work that they did and the professionalism that they showed. They did a great job.

Evidently, late Monday afternoon/early evening, Daddy Jack suffered a small heart attack. He tried to make it back to his bedroom where the "Help/Emergency" pull chord is. He fell in the hallway and broke his nose in the process, along with gashing his eye. He somehow made it to the bedroom, but suffered another, bigger, fatal heart attack before reaching the pull chord.

Several people had been by the apartment that night and throughout the day on Tuesday. People had also called him during that time. The thing is-he didn't always answer the phone or the door, so when he didn't respond, it wasn't a big deal. His neighbor notified the manager on Wednesday morning when she hadn't seen Dad in a few days. The manager and the maintenance man went in to check on him and found him.

Steve had the awful job of calling both his sisters, plus Daddy Jack's girlfriend/ex-wife, Martha. His Mom lives just a few doors down from Dad, so she already knew.

It's been a really hard week. Lots of tears, little sleep, a few arguments among Steve and his sisters, a lot of remembering and a lot of praying. I hate watching my husband cry and grieve. He's always been the strong one between the two of us....to watch him grieve and me have to be the strong one-man, that's hard!

Yesterday was the funeral and that was good. Closure is always a good thing. It wasn't easy, but we all got through it. My Daddy came down Sunday night to give us some much needed family support yesterday. It was such a comfort to know Dad was standing in the back if/when we needed him. I told Steve last night-it was like Dad was our own Guardian Angel (or Secret Service guy, with his dark suit and glasses!). We are so thankful he was able to make it down.

Now comes the hard part-going through stuff and figuring out what to do with everything. Steve's little sister is going to stay all week (she lives in KC, MO) to help out. I'm off today but am going back to work tomorrow. Steve will be off all week and will be able to help start getting things sorted. For only living in a 500 square foot apartment, Daddy Jack sure had a lot of stuff!!

Tanner has been a great distraction this past week. She has made us laugh even when we wanted to cry. She's such a good kid and she's so tender hearted. She had only met "Pappa Jack" two or three times, but she knew who he was because he was always sending stuff home with us for her! She was very sad on Wednesday when I picked her up from school and told her the news. I think Steve had found a lot of comfort in having her around. Yesterday he asked if she was coming home (she was at Mike's for the weekend and spent Sunday night there too) after school. I said "yea, is that ok or do you want me to see if Mike can take her for another night?" He was like "NO! I'm ready for her to get home. I miss that little stinker!" :)

Though the last week has been one of the hardest ever, we've been able to look back and see where God was definitely working and getting us through. It's been so obvious that the prayers on our behalf have carried us through. We have been surrounded by great friends and co-workers. Our church family has helped us out as well. And of course, my own family has been praying for us and offering support, too.

In my opinion, in times like this, you have to look for God in things or otherwise, you'd go crazy.

So that's where we've been and where we're at currently. Hopefully life will slowly get back to normal and things will settle down again.

Last Wednesday morning during my devotion time, I wrote out two verses that I found and thought were great. This was before we found out about Daddy Jack. The verse was just a comforting verse to me so I jotted it down. Later Wednesday night, I got out my prayer journal and read Steve the verse from the morning. I think it's neat how God put this verse on my heart that morning. It's definitely carried us through the past week and will continue to do so through the coming weeks.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10